Husband writes Jo Cox memoir as John Humphrys attacked over '˜terror' charge

Brendan Cox, husband of murdered MP Jo Cox, is using the sleepless nights following her death to write a memoir celebrating her life.

More In Common will be released on the eve of the first anniversary of the 41-year-old’s brutal murder at the hands of far-right extremist Thomas Mair.

“I wanted to write about Jo, but felt doing so was probably impossible because of all the pressures on my time,” Brendan Cox told the Guardian.

“What I hadn’t factored in was lack of sleep. Sleeping used to be one of the things I was best at, but since June that is no longer true.

“I often wake at 4am or even 3am nowadays and am unable to get back to sleep. So this book is very much the product of sleep deprivation.”

My life with Jo Cox: Sister’s memories of murdered MP

Mrs Cox was murdered as she arrived for a surgery at her Batley and Spen constituency on the afternoon of June 16.

The Today programme presenter John Humphrys was criticised today for suggesting that Mair was not a terrorist.

Interviewing Mark Rowley, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for counter-terrorism, on the BBC Radio 4 current affairs programme, Mr Humphrys said it “muddies the water” to describe Mair, sentenced to prison for the rest of his life for the murder, as a terrorist.

The judge in the trial said Mair must serve a whole-life sentence because of the “exceptional seriousness” of the offence, saying there was “no doubt” that the murder was “committed for the purpose of advancing a political cause”

Interviewing Mr Rowley, Mr Humphrys said: “Although in that case wasn’t it that he was a very deeply disturbed man, mentally ill wasn’t he?”

He continued: “It slightly muddies the water doesn’t it when we talk about that as terrorism? That was a murder, wasn’t it, you know?”

Mr Rowley replied: “That’s not my classification, it was the view of the court and the sentencing.” “Alright,” said Mr Humphrys.