The husband of murdered Labour MP Jo Cox has reacted to the Nice terror attack, as he plans to lay the mother of two to rest in a private ceremony in her West Yorkshire constituency of Batley and Spen this morning (15 July).

Brendan Cox took to social media site Twitter after at least 84 were killed and tens injured last night as they gathered on the Promenade des Anglais to celebrate Bastille Day.

"Jo would ask us not to fight hate with hate but draw together to drain the swamp that extremism breeds in. Thinking of all victims of hatred today," he said.

Cox, 41, was shot and stabbed near to her last constituency surgery in Birstall on 16 June – just days before the EU referendum on 23 June.

Her killing saw the suspension of the EU campaigns and sent a shockwave throughout the Western world, with US presidential hopeful Hilary Clinton among those paying tribute to Cox.

More than £1.5 million has been raised for the Jo Cox Fund so far and George Osborne, in one of his last acts as chancellor, announced that £375,000 from banking fines raised by the government has been donated to the charity.

Thousands of mourners are expected to line the route of Cox's funeral cortege, with some holding white roses in memory of her Yorkshire roots. Batley-born Cox was first elected to parliament at the 2015 general election after working for international aid charity Oxfam.

Thomas Mair, a 52-year-old constituent of Cox's, has been charged with murdering the MP and with grievous bodily harm, possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence and possession of an offensive weapon. He is remanded in custody and his trial is set for November.

Brendan Cox's statement after his wife's killing

"Today is the beginning of a new chapter in our lives. More difficult, more painful, less joyful, less full of love. I and Jo's friends and family are going to work every moment of our lives to love and nurture our kids and to fight against the hate that killed Jo.

"Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy, and a zest for life that would exhaust most people.

"She would have wanted two things above all else to happen now − one, that our precious children are bathed in love and. two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her. Hate doesn't have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous.

"Jo would have no regrets about her life, she lived every day of it to the full."