A square in Brussels is to be named after Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox who was murdered in 2016.
The square in the centre of the city is close to the Ancienne Belgique concert venue that Mrs Cox regularly attended whilst living and working in Belgium.
The naming ceremony will be held this afternoon and led by the Mayor of Brussels, Philippe Close. It will be attended by members of the MP’s family as well as Labour leader Jeremey Corbyn.
Mrs Cox’s sister Kim Leadbeater said: “My parents and I are very pleased to be attending the inauguration of Jo Cox Square and are honoured that the city of Brussels has chosen to remember Jo in this way.
“She had many happy times living there and made some deep and long-lasting friendships”.
Helen Joanne Cox was a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for the Batley and Spen constituency from her election in May 2015 until her tragic murder in June.
The 41-year-old mother-of-two has been praised for her “investment in women’s rights” and her love for Brussels was “absolutely remarkable” by Mayor Close.
The City decided to rename the square near the town hall in honour of the former Labour MP, she was included by the city of Brussels on a list of “illustrious women” who will have squares, streets and buildings named after them as part of the city’s plans for female and male equality.
In November, a street in the town of Avallon in France was named after Mrs Cox.
Ms Leadbeater added: “We visited her on several occasions and have many heart-warming memories of seeing how much she enjoyed being there.
“To know that she will have a permanent place where she, and the values she stood by, can be remembered is a comfort and an honor and I would like to thank everyone involved.”
On the first anniversary of her death, Mrs Cox was remembered in the Commons with a plaque bearing her coat of arms and the phrase “more in common”.
The phrase came from her maiden house of commons speech as an MP in 2015 when Mrs Cox said: “While we celebrate our diversity, what surprises me time and time again as I travel around the constituency is that we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.”
