THE nation is still reeling from the brutal murder of Jo Cox MP. This attack was shocking in a number of ways.

Cox was the first female MP in Britain to be murdered, and on the streets in broad daylight.

There is an increasing level of misogyny in hate crimes. The majority of anti-Muslim hate crimes are against women. Now a female Labour MP has been targeted and killed.

The lack of mainstream media coverage of fascism and terrorism and how the toxic and racist debate on immigration has turned the clocks back decades on race relations is also shocking.

The police are following right-wing extremism as a priority line of inquiry. In many ways Cox’s murder was similar to that of Lee Rigby in 2013. Indeed the charges of murder and possession of a firearm are also similar.

There is a well of evidence that indicates tackling terrorism arising from fascism needs to be taken just as seriously as terrorism from Isis-type currents.

Since 1999 we have seen nail bomb attacks in London by David Copeland, the murder of Mohammed Saleem and bombing of mosques in the West Midlands by Pavlo Lapshyn in 2013 and now the murder of Jo Cox MP.

In 2010 Terrance Gavan, who was linked to the British National Party (BNP), was sentenced to 11 years for possessing the largest cache of explosives and weapons ever by an individual. Gavan lived in Batley.

Cox’s constituency of Batley and Spen has a history of fascist elements, with support for the BNP along with English Defence League (EDL) and Britain First demonstrations. But it also has a history of defeating fascism with its diversity and unity.

In Europe there were the Anders Breivik attacks in Norway in 2011. And two weeks ago a French far-right activist was detained in Ukraine on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks on mosques and synagogues in France during Euro 2016.

Yet Isis-type terrorist attacks create far more hysteria than attacks by fascist terrorists. Why the double standards?

The answer lies in the government’s austerity agenda. While it decimates living standards, creating a heightened fear of Muslims, immigrants and refugees is a convenient distraction and scapegoat.

An equivalent campaign against the Islamophobia and racist hate of far-right groups would expose their own use of similar rhetoric to shore up their political position and deflect hostility away from the impact of attacks on living standards.

Alongside a campaign against fascism, racism and hatred, the centre left and left must stand for improving the living standards of a population badly hit by austerity.

Jo Cox’s husband Brendan wrote that mainstream politicians “in most cases are clueless on how to deal with the public debate. Petrified by the rise of the populists, they try to neuter them by taking their ground and aping their rhetoric. Far from closing down the debates, these steps legitimise their views, reinforce their frames and pull the debate further to the extremes (Sarkozy and the continuing rise of Front National is a case in point).”

He’s right. This toxic racist discussion on immigration must stop now. Campaigners are reporting some of the most openly racist statements on the doorstep that were thought to be confined to the dustbin of history. Hate crimes are up, as is racist vitriol.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis has rightly pointed out that Nigel Farage’s “Breaking Point” poster must be investigated for inciting racial hatred.

Britain First should also be investigated for its “Kill them all” slogans on demonstrations and its campaign of hate against Britain’s mosques.

In the darkness we must show light. Let us never forget Jo Cox who in her maiden speech said: “Our communities have been deeply enhanced by immigration, be it of Irish Catholics across the constituency or of Muslims from Gujarat in India or from Pakistan, principally from Kashmir.

“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.”

As we mark Refugee Week this week, let us also remember her words supporting Alf Dubs’s parliamentary amendments on taking child refugees: “Those children have been exposed to things no child should ever witness and I know I would risk life and limb to get my two precious babies out of that hellhole.” Let us reach out the hand of humanity and do more to help refugees.

• Sabby Dhalu is Unite Against Fascism joint secretary.