UK lawmakers return to London to pay tribute to slain MP

LONDON — British lawmakers return to Parliament Monday to pay tribute to lawmaker Jo Cox, as the man charged with her slaying is set to appear in court for a bail hearing.

Parliament is in recess for campaigning in the European Union referendum when Cox was shot and stabbed to death outside a library in her northern England constituency on Thursday.

The killing — the first of a sitting British legislator in more than a quarter of a century — prompted an outpouring of shock and grief, and brought a three-day halt to campaigning for this week’s referendum.

Cox was a Labor legislator who had championed the plight of Syrian refugees and strongly backed a “remain” vote in Thursday’s EU poll.

Speaker John Bercow recalls the House of Commons to allow lawmakers to honor their colleague. In a break with tradition, members are allowed to sit together, rather than dividing along party lines.

The House is generally recalled only at times of crisis or high significance. The last time it happened was in September 2014, so lawmakers could vote on whether to launch airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq.

— AP