The 41-year-old Labour MP Jo Cox was attacked after holding a constituency surgery in Birstall, West Yorkshire on Thursday, BBC informs.

The death of Labour MP Jo Cox, attacked outside her constituency surgery, is the latest act of violence against an MP - but can more be done to improve their security? The killing of the Batley and Spen MP, the mother of two young children, has been met with sadness and shock and recognition that being an MP can be a dangerous job.

While MPs are protected by high security measures in Parliament, it is a different matter in their constituencies. MPs - even senior government ministers - hold regular surgeries to meet their constituents to help them and discuss issues concerning them.

A report out earlier this year by psychiatrists working with the Home Office, reported in the Guardian, suggested four out of five MPs had suffered intrusive or aggressive behavior and some feared going out in public.

BBC diplomatic correspondent James Landale reports that:
"The ability of MPs and their staff to engage with constituents goes to the heart of our parliamentary democracy. MPs can represent us here at Westminster only because every week they go back home and meet us face to face.

There will inevitably be another debate about MPs' security. Many are often subject to physical attack. But politics can't happen from behind a ring of steel. Jo Cox's death is not just an awful tragedy. It is also an assault on our democracy."