Husband of murdered UK MP Jo Cox on where to go after the Helen Haines attack

We can't, you know, tragically...

We can't, in my case, you know, I can't bring back Jo.

We can't undo the life-changing damage that Helen has... um we'll have to uh to live with but we can still shape and australians in this case can still shape what it means and what lessons we take from it and what changes are instituted as a result and i think my experience of that is that firstly like what how the public responds really matters it matters on a very personal level i remember um when uh when joe was killed for the kids in particular seeing the the scale of public empathy of concern

you're too kids yeah

my kids yeah three and five at the time um seeing the scale of the public reaction i remember we were driving in the in the funeral cortege on the day of uh joe's funeral and there were people lining the streets um throwing flowers onto the car and my son who was five at the time turned to me and said i knew people loved mummy but i didn't know i didn't realize this many people did So there was something very powerful about that public solidarity.

And so, you know, sometimes it's derided as lighting candles and, you know, placing flowers, but actually for the family, and, you know, thank God Helen has survived, it looks like.

There is a power in those gestures, so I wouldn't shy away from those.

But then secondly, how do we make sure that not just for the family, but how do we make sure that politics changes coming out of this and society changes coming out of this? And I think the shock...

And, you know, moments like this shock the political system, they shock the country.

That shock fades quickly.

So the question is, is how do you use this moment as much as you can to try to institutionalise changes that might get politics, might get society back on the kind of track you want them to be on?