LONDON -- The polarizing debate on whether the United Kingdom should leave the European Union had escalated in the weeks leading up to the slaying of Parliament member Jo Cox, a vocal "Remain" proponent. But campaigning was suspended for a third day Saturday as lawmakers prepared for a Parliament session Monday to pay tribute to their colleague.
Broadcast appearances related to the EU debate are to resume today, with supporters on both sides scheduled to appear on television.
Britons are questioning whether the debate will pick up again with the same vitriol that has characterized the four-month campaign over whether to leave the EU.
Tight polls ahead of this Thursday's referendum had led both sides to escalate their language in the days leading up to Cox's slaying. Last week, the "Remain" camp described Nigel Farage, leader of the U.K. Independence Party, as "engaging in the politics of the gutter" over a poster showing a crowd of migrants entering the EU.
Earlier, former Prime Minister John Major called "Leave" leader Boris Johnson, a former mayor of London, a "court jester."
The "Leave" camp has sent its own barbs: When President Barack Obama said he wanted Britain to stay in the EU, Johnson wrote that the "part-Kenyan" president may have issues with the country's imperial legacy. One of the pro-separation groups tweeted after the massacre in an Orlando, Fla., gay nightclub that Britons should "act now before we see an Orlando-style atrocity here before too long." The Orlando attacker was the son of Afghan immigrants.
At one point, Johnson said the EU shared Adolf Hitler's goal of unifying Europe, albeit by different means. Other "Leave" campaigners went further, mocking up German Chancellor Angela Merkel as Hitler.
"We've got too used to not respecting that people may have strongly held views and come to a different result," said Liz Kendall, who like her friend Cox, is a Labor member of Parliament. "On social media, you're in an echo chamber of those on your side, and those against, and being measured doesn't get you anywhere. This is what we're all thinking about, whether or not that's directly linked to this awful tragedy."
Much of the bitterness in the EU debate has been within Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party, which is split on the issue. He and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, who are campaigning to remain in the EU, have used the machinery of government to their advantage, including publishing Treasury reports warning of the dangers of a so-called Brexit.
That has upset Conservative lawmakers who favor an exit, saying Cameron and Osborne are not playing fairly. One lawmaker was quoted anonymously in the Sunday Times last month saying: "I don't want to stab the Prime Minister in the back -- I want to stab him in the front so I can see the expression on his face. You'd have to twist the knife, though, because we want it back for Osborne."
"There is a sense in which we've become much more polarized on a whole heap of issues at the moment," said Andrew Russell, professor of politics at the University of Manchester. "At some level, there is this notion that people are fair game for public criticism and people in public life don't have any kind of right to private life at all, and I think that might be redressed."
The level of anger could be seen back in May, when officials from the group Vote Leave learned they had been outmaneuvered by Cameron in negotiations over television debates. In a late-night statement emailed to media, Vote Leave attacked broadcaster ITV PLC.
"There will be consequences for its future. The people in Number 10 won't be there for long," it said, referring to the prime minister's office at 10 Downing St.
The International Monetary Fund weighed in once more on the referendum, warning that the U.K. could slide into a recession if it votes to leave the EU.
In a 64-page document, publication of which was delayed a day because of Cox's slaying, the IMF said the size of the hit would depend on a multitude of factors, though its overall assessment is that the U.K. "would likely be worse off economically in the long run."
In its report, the IMF presented forecasts for "limited" and "adverse" exit scenarios. In its most adverse scenario, it predicted growth slowing sharply this year and the economy shrinking 0.8 percent in 2017. The exit would cause the economy to be 5.6 percent smaller by 2019 compared with a baseline forecast, while unemployment would rise above 6 percent and the deficit would widen.
Suspect in court
Thomas Mair, the man accused in Cox's killing, made an appearance Saturday in Westminster Magistrates' Court in London. Asked his name, Mair said, "My name is death to traitors, freedom for Britain."
His comments Saturday prompted Deputy Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot to order a psychiatric report into Mair's mental state that may influence how the case against him proceeds.
Once a suspect is charged, British law restricts what can be published about the case to ensure the right to a fair trial is not compromised.
Also Saturday, prosecutors said they had found extreme rightist literature during a search of Mair's house, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported. They also said that Mair told police during his arrest, which occurred moments after the attack on Cox, that he was "a political activist."
A witness said the suspect said, "Britain first!" several times as Cox was attacked.
Mair was reported to have been in contact with rightist extremist groups in the United States and Britain, but Britain First, a rightist nationalist group, denied any links with Mair.
A U.S. civil-rights group, meanwhile, said he had been associated with an American neo-Nazi organization called the National Alliance.
Mair is accused of using a dagger and a handgun to kill Cox after she got out of her car for a meeting with constituents Thursday in the small town of Birstall in northern England. He faces charges of murder, inflicting grievous bodily harm, possession of a firearm with intent to commit a crime, and other gun-related charges. He was handcuffed to a guard throughout Saturday's proceedings.
Mair will be kept in custody at Belmarsh Prison until his next court appearance Monday. He was not required to enter a plea during the session Saturday.
Meanwhile, Cox's family made an emotional visit Saturday to the town square of Birstall, just steps from where she was slain and where a makeshift memorial of flowers, letters and cards has sprung up.
Her sister, Kim Leadbeater, said Cox would live on through her husband, Brendan, and "through her truly wonderful children, who will always know what an utterly amazing woman their mother was."
Leadbeater also said Cox would have approved of the way Britain has responded to her death.
"Over the last 48 hours, people have not been silent. They have been vocal and passionate and have spoken from the heart. Genuine emotion with no hidden agenda. Jo would have loved it," she said.
"We have to continue this strength and solidarity for the days, months and years to come as part of Jo's legacy. To focus on that which unites us and not which divides us."
Information for this article was contributed by Robert Hutton, Alex Morales, Thomas Penny, Jill Ward, Scott Hamilton and Scott Lanman of Bloomberg News; by Gregory Katz of The Associated Press; by Steven Erlanger of The New York Times; and by Griff Witte of The Washington Post.
A Section on 06/19/2016