JEREMY Corbyn pleaded for a “kinder and gentler” politics yesterday as MPs gathered in a parliament to pay tribute to Jo Cox, who was killed in her West Yorkshire constituency last Thursday.

Cox’s children Lejla, three, and Cuillin, five, sat with their father in the public gallery of the chamber of the House of Commons, watching as colleagues and friends of their mother paid tribute to her.

It was an incredibly emotional gathering of the parliament, with many in the Commons in tears.

Opening the session, Speaker John Bercow told the MPs this meeting of Parliament was not just to remember Cox but to “redouble our dedication to democracy”.

“Jo was murdered in the course of her duty, serving constituents in need,” he said. “She fought for them just as she fought for others – at home and abroad – who were victims of poverty, discrimination or injustice. An attack such as this strikes not only at an individual, but at our freedom.”

MPs wore white roses, a symbol of Cox’s Yorkshire heritage, and a white rose and red rose were left on the seat on the green benches where she would normally sit.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn used his speech to pay tribute to those who had come to help Cox, including 77-year-old Bernard Kenny, who was stabbed in the stomach while trying to help the MP fight off her attacker.

“We need a kinder and gentler politics,” urged Corbyn. “This is not a factional party political point. We all have a responsibility in this House and beyond not to whip up hatred or sow division.”

Prime Minister David Cameron said parliament would pay proper tribute to the MP by standing united “against the hatred that killed her”.

“May we and the generations of members that follow us in this House honour Jo’s memory by proving that the democracy and freedoms Jo stood for are indeed unbreakable, by continuing to stand up for our constituents and by uniting against the hatred that killed her today and for evermore,” the Prime Minister said.

In an angry speech, Cox’s close friend Stephen Kinnock, the MP for Aberavon, called her death “a national tragedy” and said she was “assassinated because of what she was and because of what she stood for.”

Referring to Ukip’s “Breaking Point” poster, he said: “I can only imagine Jo’s reaction had she seen the poster that was unveiled hours before her death – a poster on the streets of Britain that demonised hundreds of desperate refugees, including hungry, terrified children, fleeing from the terror of Isis and from Russian bombs.

“She would have responded with outrage, and with a robust rejection of the calculated narrative of cynicism, division and despair that it represents, because Jo understood that rhetoric has consequences.

“When insecurity, fear and anger are used to light a fuse, an explosion is inevitable.”

He continued: “It is the politics of division and fear, the harking back to incendiary slogans and the rhetoric of ‘Britain First’ that twists patriotism from love of country into an ugly loathing of others. We must now stand up for something better, because of someone better. In the name of Jo Cox and all that is decent, we must not let this atrocity intimidate our democracy. We must now work to build a more respectful and united country.

"This is our time to honour the legacy of the proud Yorkshire lass who dedicated her life to the common good and who was so cruelly taken away from us in the prime of her life. Jo Cox, we love you, we salute you and we shall never forget you.”

The SNP’s Eilidh Whiteford, who worked with Cox at Oxfam, paid emotional tribute to her friend, sharing personal memories as well as those of mutual friends.

“The last time I saw Jo was at the Macmillan Cancer Support Parliament tug-of-war event just a couple of weeks ago,” she said. “The conventional wisdom is that that height and weight are distinct advantages at the tug of war. Jo had neither of those attributes. Her stature was quite possibly the only thing about her that was diminutive. Nevertheless there she was pulling for the women MPs’ team with every ounce of her strength, every fibre of her being and sheer dogged determination.

“That’s how I want to remember her: the strong, brave determined women giving her all with absolute commitment. I want us to remember Jo for how she lived, not how she died.”

After the hour-long session , and against parliamentary convention, MPs stood and applauded, many of them looking to Cox’s family in the gallery.

The politicians then followed the Speaker out of the Commons and into St Margaret’s Church in the grounds of Westminster Abbey.