LONDON (REUTERS, AFP) - The murder of British lawmaker Jo Cox, who was shot and stabbed in the street last week, appeared increasingly likely to have been a politically motivated attack, the leader of the opposition Labour Party told parliament on Monday (June 20).

"Her community and the whole country has been united in grief, and united in rejecting the well of hatred that killed her in what increasingly appears to have been an act of extreme political violence," Jeremy Corbyn told a specially convened session of parliament.

British lawmakers on Monday paid tribute to Cox in a rare show of unity as the EU referendum campaign entered its final stretch.

Politicians returned to parliament, which had been in recess, for a special sitting to pay tribute to Cox, a campaigner in favour of EU membership and refugee rights murdered on a village street last week.

Prime Minister David Cameron in his tribute to Cox called for unity 'against hatred'.