EVENTS were held worldwide to celebrate Jo Cox’s life yesterday as her family, friends and famous supporters attended a memorial service on what would have been the MP’s 42nd birthday.

A rally in London’s Trafalgar Square heard speeches from Ms Cox’s husband Brendan and teenage Pakistani campaigner Malala Yousafzai, a reading by actor Bill Nighy and a musical tribute from U2 transmitted from Los Angeles.

Ceremonies were held in several cities, including New York, Washington, Brussels, Beirut, Melbourne and Nairobi, under the hashtag More In Common.

A moment of silence was also observed around the world at 4.25pm.

Speaking ahead of the commemorations, Mr Cox said: “The two things that I’ve been very focused on is how do we support and protect the children and how do we make sure that something good comes out of this.

“And what the public support and outpouring of love around this does is it also helps the children see that what they’re feeling and other people are feeling, that the grief that they feel, isn’t abnormal, that they feel it more acutely and more painfully and more personally, but that actually their mother was someone who was loved by lots of people and that, therefore, it’s OK to be upset and it’s OK for them to cry and to be sad about it.”

He added that he hoped another female Labour MP will take his wife’s seat, saying it would be “lovely symbolism.”

Speaking on the EU referendum campaign trail in Bristol alongside Prime Minister David Cameron, the former acting Labour leader said Harriet Harman: “Jo believed in a better world and fought for it every day of her life with an energy and an enthusiasm which would have exhausted most people.”

Following Ms Cox’s death, a whopping £1 million was raised in three days for charities close to the MP’s heart.