Women activists from England

"Anthony Carthew (ITN): And, I suppose, in love? Lady Diana Spencer: Of course! Charles, Prince of Wales: Whatever 'in love' means."

"I was always told by my family that I was the thick one. That I was stupid and my brother was the clever one. And I was always so conscious of that. I used to go to the headmistress crying saying I wish I wasn't so stupid."

"From early childhood many had felt they were expected to be perfect, but didn't feel they had the right to express their true feelings to those around them - feelings of guilt of self revulsion and low personal esteem. Creating in them a compulsion to 'disolve like a disprin' and disappear."

"Each person is born with very individual qualities and potential. We as a society owe it to women to create a truly supportive environment in which they too can grow and move forward."

"These children need to feel the same things as other children. To play, to laugh and cry, to make friends, to enjoy the ordinary experiences of childhood. To feel loved and nurtured and included by the world they live in, without the stigma that AIDS continues to attract."

"Care in the community is a partnership. A partnership between skilled and caring professionals and a concerned and caring community. Working together, to find new ways of helping these people who've been excluded and connecting them with neighbours who will understand and accept them. By providing, proper funding for the homes they will need and the support they so rightly deserve, we can show them how much we care."

"When I started my public life, twelve years ago, I understood the media might be interested in what I did. I realized then their attention would inevitably focus on both our private and public lives. But I was not aware of how overwhelming that attention would become. Nor the extent to which it would affect both my public duties and my personal life, in a manner, that's been hard to bear. At the end of this year, when I've completed my diary of official engagements, I will be reducing the extent of the public life I've lead so far."

"Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."

"She won't go quietly, that's the problem. I'll fight to the end, because I believe that I have a role to fulfill, and I've got two children to bring up."

"I always knew I'd never be the next queen. I'd like to be a queen of people's hearts, in people's hearts, but I don't see myself being queen of this country. I don't think many people will want me to be queen."

"I do things differently, because I don't go by a rule book, because I lead from the heart, not the head, and albeit that's got me into trouble in my work, I understand that."

"The kindness and affection from the public have carried me through some of the most difficult periods, and always your love and affection have eased the journey."

"I think the British people need someone in public life to give affection, to make them feel important, to support them, to give them light in their dark tunnels. I see it as a possibly unique role, and yes, I’ve had difficulties, as everybody has witnessed over the years, but let’s now use the knowledge I’ve gathered to help other people in distress"

"Everyone needs to be valued. Everyone has the potential to give something back."

"It takes professionalism to convince a doubting public that it should accept back into its midst many of those diagnosed as psychotics, neurotics and other sufferers who Victorian communities decided should be kept out of sight in the safety of mental institutions."

"Anywhere I see suffering, that is where I want to be, doing what I can."

"Carry out a random act of kindness with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you."

"I don't want to talk about things I haven't seen, so if they want me to talk about those things, I've got to go there and see for myself."

"HIV doesn't make people dangerous to know, so you can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it."

"The worst illness of our time is that so many people have to suffer from never being loved."

"Two things stand like stone: kindness in anothers trouble, courage in your own. (This is a quote from poet Adam Lindsay Gordon)"

"Family is the most important thing in the world."

"They say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich and just moody?"

"I don’t want expensive gifts; I don’t want to be bought. I have everything I want. I just want someone to be there for me, to make me feel safe and secure."

"If you find someone you love in your life, then hang on to that love."

"She is in that adversary mood toward the press that is the first stage in the removal from life that fame inflicts."

"She was fun and accessible, thats why people loved her."

"We clicked in an intangible way' probably because of our upbringing."

"After dinner at a friends house, Diana said, 'Do you have a pair of Marigolds?' I'll do the washing up. The host convinced her there was no need!"

"Only in storybooks do you get to dance with a princess until midnight. But it happened to me."

"She was well loved and admired across the Commonwealth and was emerging as a potent symbol of our common humanity in her evident commitment to others less fortunate than herself."

"Princess Diana in her official position and in a personal capacity has made an extraordinary contribution not only to her country but to the world."

"Hillary and I admired her for her work for children, for people with AIDS, for the cause of ending the scourge of land mines in the world and for her love for her children William and Harry."

"In our opinion she was the foremost ambassador for Aids awareness on the planet and no one can fill her shoes in terms of the work she did."

"On the second occasion, at a Vanity Fair charity event in London several years later, things were more relaxed. Nobody even pretended that her marriage was anything more than fiction. This time we had a brief burble, and I said to her, "We republicans must stick together." She laughed fetchingly."

"In the aftermath of her untimely death, which has thrown up a smog of irrelevant questions, — like, did the media do it? — we will soon be facing the only essential one: Will she be, posthumously, as much a destabilizer of the House of Windsor as she was when she was living?"

"It has ended, at a young age, the life of a person who held a particular fascination for many people around the world."

"She believed, against all the evidence of her own beautiful eyes, that there was some kind of enchanted place called Abroad, where she would be understood and where she could lead a more normal life."

"Her genuine concern for the plight of others and her ability to talk to anybody and make them feel special were her remarkable qualities. Her loss has been felt here very deeply because of the wonderful work she did here with patients. She will be very deeply missed."

"She represented Britain with nobility and warmth and she captured the imagination of millions throughout the world with her dedication to her children and to innumerable worthy causes. Her untimely death is a shock to all who admired her and who will cherish her memory"

"I don't think she ever understood why her genuinely good intentions were sneered at by the media, why there appeared to be a permanent quest on their behalf to bring her down. It is baffling. My own and only explanation is that genuine goodness is threatening to those at the opposite end of the moral spectrum. It is a point to remember that of all the ironies about Diana, perhaps the greatest was this - a girl given the name of the ancient goddess of hunting was, in the end, the most hunted person of the modern age."

"Many exceptional projects that touched the lives of ordinary people have been put into practice in Russia with her direct participation."

"Caring for people who are dying and helping the bereaved was something for which Diana had passion and commitment. When she stroked the limbs of someone with leprosy, or sat on the bed of a man with HIV/AIDS and held his hand, she transformed public attitudes and improved the life chances of such people. People felt if a British princess can go to a ward with HIV patients, then there's nothing to be superstitious about."

"But a new world began, I think, in 1980, with the discovery that Diana, the future Princess of Wales, had legs. You will remember how the young Diana taught for a few hours a week at a kindergarten called Young England, and when it was first known that she was Charles's choice of bride, the press photographed her, infants touchingly gathered around; but they induced her to stand against the light, so in the resulting photograph the nation could see straight through her skirt. A sort of licentiousness took hold, a national lip-smacking. Those gangling limbs were artlessly exposed, without her permission. It was the first violation."

"I always think of my mother in everything I do. I hope she would be proud of my work. My brother and I often ask ourselves: what would our mother have done in this situation? My mother was to me, like my brother, a role model. And also to many people worldwide. I believe people took to her so warmly because she possessed the ability to take away their embarrassment in whatever situation she met them in. She was immediately sympathetic. Exactly like her, I know that I enjoy a privileged position as a member of the royal family and I must use what was given to me to try to make a difference in important topics."

"She was our guardian, friend and protector. She never once allowed her unfaltering love for us to go unspoken or undemonstrated. She will always be remembered for her amazing public work. But behind the media glare, to us, just two loving children, she was quite simply the best mother in the world. We would say that wouldn't we. But we miss her. She kissed us last thing at night. Her beaming smile greeted us from school. She laughed hysterically and uncontrollably when sharing something silly she might have said or done that day. She encouraged us when we were nervous or unsure. She - like our father - was determined to provide us with a stable and secure childhood."

"I think she'd be happy in the way that we're going about it but slightly unhappy about the way the other people were going about it as in saying, 'Look: you're not normal, so stop trying to be normal,' which is very much what we get a lot."

"My mother used her position very well to help other people, as does my father, and I hope to do the same."

"Losing a close family member is one of the hardest experiences that anyone can ever endure. My mother Diana was present at your launch 15 years ago, and today I am incredibly proud to be able to continue her support for your fantastic charity, by becoming your royal patron. Never being able to say the word 'Mummy' again in your life sounds like a small thing. However, for many, including me, it's now really just a word – hollow and evoking only memories."

"You know why I fear people’s judgment? Because I know they’re judging. I know they are."

"I know when I walk into that classroom in the morning, even if it’s for a split second, at some point I’m being checked out."

"I’m not classically trained. I didn’t come from the fancy home, no."

"Everyone can commit to 20 minutes, especially if there’s a glass of Chardonnay afterwards."

"This is going to sound really weird, but I never had a desire to be famous. I never had huge ambitions — never."

"I often look at women who wear great jeans and high heels and nice little T-shirts wandering around the city and I think, I should make more of an effort. I should look like that. But then I think, They can’t be happy in those heels."

"I need to be looked after. I’m not talking about diamond rings and nice restaurants and fancy stuff—in fact, that makes me uncomfortable. I didn’t grow up with it and it’s not me, you know. But I need someone to say to me, ‘Shall I run you a bath?’ or ‘Let’s go to the pub, just us.’"

"I don’t particularly remember sitting at home crying and eating endless packets of HobNobs. I don’t remember doing that at all. Honestly, I think it was a stress thing or something. I don’t know."

"I do think it’s important for young women to know that magazine covers are retouched. People don’t really look like that. In films I might look glamorous, but I’ve been in hair and make-up for two hours."

"Even now I do not consider myself to be some kind of great, sexy beauty. I don’t mind the way I’m ageing. No reason to panic just yet. I think I look my age, and that’s fine. The lord God almighty has done me proud with my features which I'm proud of and have no desire to alter them. I say " let nature take its course "."

"I don't look like that and I don't desire to look like that."

"It's a funny time to be nominated for things and accepting prizes when people as great as him have left us. But I don't want to leave you on a sad note, so I'm going to tell a funny story about Al if I can. When I worked with him when I was only 19 years old, I was absolutely terrified on day one, and I remember him looking at me, and I remember feeling so small, smaller than I'd ever felt before in my life. And after a few weeks of getting to know him and realizing just how wonderful and warm he really was, I was standing there in my costume on Sense and Sensibility, and my knickers had gone up my bum. And, you know, when you're trying to flit your knickers out of your arse and you're wearing a corset, it's actually quite tricky. And so I was sort of yanking at my pants, and Emma Thompson was standing right there, and I said, 'fuck, my fucking knickers have gone up my arse!' And Al just said, 'ah... feminine mystique strikes again.'"

"She's a very gentle and grounded person, so I suppose I could say that I'm not worried about her. She knows the industry extremely well. She has a really wonderful family, too. Yeah, of course we talked about it. Of course we do. It's a great privilege to be able to share the experiences I have had with her. Am I going to be specific about what we shared? No [laughs]. But she's going to be just fine. She's a really great human being. She's going to be tremendous actually."

"I first auditioned Kate Winslet when she was 17. I thought she was 25. Such was her self-possession, presence and concentration...later, I cast her as Ophelia in a film of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. I did not ask her to audition...She listened with superhuman acuity, and expressed character with effortless depth... (now) those same qualities are radiant, having now evolved into a truly awesome acting technique. Only now, hers is the art that entirely hides the artist...It’s magnificent to watch."

"I can't wait to be able to drive, but it's hard. Good driving doesn't really run in my family genes. My mother is possibly the worst driver ever."

"In Cancún, I felt like I had walked into an American teen movie."

"It was unbelievable seeing me as an action figure! In a few months, toddlers all around the country will be biting my head off!"

"I think I'm actually in denial that I'm famous, it only sinks in when people crowd in the streets. My friends treat me like a regular person, which is what I wanted."

"It just always reveals to me how many misconceptions and what a misunderstanding there is about what feminism is. Feminism is about giving women choice. Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women with. It’s about freedom, it’s about liberation, it’s about equality. I really don’t know what my tits have to do with it. It’s very confusing."

"Empathy and the ability to use your imagination should have no limits."

"[Feminism]'s not about us convincing you that gender equality is worth engaging in only because there might be something in it for you, or in it for your sister or your mother. The question is, what's in it for humans?"

"Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong."

"Happier, healthier, more successful children? Being able to take proper paternity leave and see your baby? Being able to talk to someone if you're feeling shit? Actually getting to be yourself? Getting asked out by a woman? Better sex? A marriage that is a true partnership? More diverse and interesting perspectives in art, culture, business, and politics? Getting to crowdsource all the innovation and genius in the world, not just half of it? A highly increased number of safe, confident, and fulfilled people on the planet, particularly women? World peace? Seriously. World peace!"

"Here's what I think. Feminism is not here to dictate to you. It's not prescriptive, it's not dogmatic. All we are here to do is give you a choice.” “We want to empower women to do exactly what they want, to be true to themselves, to have the opportunities to develop. Women should feel free. There is no typical feminist, there is nothing anywhere that says you have to meet a certain [set of] criteria."

"Women and girls have always faced hurdles. But that's never stopped us. We've sacrificed, fought, campaigned, succeeded, been knocked back, and succeeded again. In a race for justice, we've leapt over countless obstacles to win our rights."

"Feminism can be humorous, and we all have a different way of approaching that. I often wonder what mischief I can make to spread the word in a playful way. You can't take everything in life seriously, can you?"

"If I asked a young boy what superhero they looked up to, I feel a lot fewer would say a female one or would ever use an example of a female one, than in reverse, which is a shame. We need to live in a culture that values and respects and looks up to and idolizes women as much as men.” “This isn't just, 'girls are better than boys, boys are better than girls.' This is just, 'everyone deserves a fair chance."

"Feminism is about giving women choice. Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women. It’s about freedom, it’s about liberation, it’s about equality."

"Today we are launching a campaign called “HeForShe.” I am reaching out to you because we need your help. We want to end gender inequality — and to do this we need everyone to be involved. This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN: we want to try and galvanize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for change. And we don’t just want to talk about it. We want to make sure it is tangible."

"I was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for Women six months ago and the more I have spoken about feminism, the more I have realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop. For the record, feminism by definition is: “The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.”"

"I started questioning gender-based assumptions a long time ago. When I was eight, I was confused at being called “bossy,” because I wanted to direct the plays that we would put on for our parents — but the boys were not."

"I decided that I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Women are choosing not to identify as feminists. Apparently I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, and anti-men, unattractive even. Why has the word become such an uncomfortable one? I am from Britain and think it is right that I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and the decisions that will affect my life. I think it is right that socially I am afforded the same respect as men. But sadly I can say that there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to receive these rights. No country in the world can yet say that they have achieved gender equality. These rights I consider to be human rights but I am one of the lucky ones. My life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn’t love me less because I was born a daughter. My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn’t assume that I would go less far because I might give birth to a child one day. These influencers were the gender equality ambassadors that made who I am today. They may not know it, but they are the inadvertent feminists who are changing the world today. We need more of those. And if you still hate the word — it is not the word that is important. It's the idea and the ambition behind it. Because not all women have received the same rights that I have. In fact, statistically, very few have been."

"In 1997, Hillary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing about women’s rights. Sadly many of the things she wanted to change are still true today. But what stood out for me the most was that less than 30 per cent of the audience were male. How can we effect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation? Men — I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue too."

"We don’t often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes, but I can see that that they are, and that when they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence. If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won’t feel compelled to be submissive. If men don’t have to control, women won’t have to be controlled. Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong… It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals. If we stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by who we are — we can all be freer and this is what HeForShe is about. It’s about freedom. I want men to take up this mantle. So that their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice but also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too — reclaim those parts of themselves they abandoned and in doing so be a more true and complete version of themselves."

"You might be thinking who is this Harry Potter girl? And what is she doing speaking at the UN. And it’s a really good question. I've been asking myself the same thing. All I know is that I care about this problem. And I want to make it better. And having seen what I’ve seen — and given the chance — I feel it is my responsibility to say something. Statesman Edmund Burke said: “All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing.” In my nervousness for this speech and in my moments of doubt I’ve told myself firmly — if not me, who, if not now, when. If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to you I hope that those words might be helpful."

"If you believe in equality, you might be one of those inadvertent feminists that I spoke of earlier. And for this I applaud you. We are struggling for a uniting word but the good news is that we have a uniting movement. It is called HeForShe. I am inviting you to step forward, to be seen, and to ask yourself if not me, who, if not now when."

"The thing that I love about acting is the fact that I can help people feel things, know themselves or feel less alone. It's my form of expression, in the same way that someone might paint a picture or sing a song in that you're hoping that it moves somebody outside of their own way of thinking."

"I consider myself British and have very happy memories of the UK. I spent the first 14 years of my life in England and never wanted to leave. When I was in Australia I went back to England a lot."

"My mum was Jewish. Maybe I'm a really bad Jew because I'm always so excited to say that I am, but I don't live and breathe the religion."

"[Meat industry] truly is a disgusting industry, all the more so because it’s hidden. Have you ever seen animals being shipped to abattoirs? Do you even know where these abattoirs are? Have you ever seen an animal getting killed for the food you eat? It’s a dark, dark, dark trade that nobody really knows about, and a hugely profitable one at that. … If I don’t believe in killing animals, why on earth would I do it for the sake of fashion … I don’t think there’s any difference, because at the end of the day you’re killing an animal and stripping its skin off its body. It’s somebody’s baby – or it has a baby – it breathes, it lives, it has emotions, it has feelings … I find it fascinating that leather and fur are so often associated with the top luxury level of fashion. And yet leather, in this day and age, is probably cheaper than a piece of cotton. So there’s such a tiny price put on an animal’s life."

"Stella’s work has helped to redefine and recalibrate our thinking … Higher-end brands have said they couldn’t exist without fur. Stella proves, of course you can."

"From afar, I have long admired Stella McCartney … who has never used animal products in her eponymous brand and who has catalyzed the development of new luxury products that gorgeously resemble leather, fur or skin, but aren’t. Stella has also taken tremendous risks for her principles, including making clear to Gucci from the beginning she would not work with leather, a bold statement to an iconic fashion house arguably synonymous with leather, particularly from a then 29-year-old designer. … Stella is now known as a fashion designer, and one particularly adept at designing for women in all of our various moods, ambitions, roles and for every season. … Her aesthetics are as consistent as her ethics – across space and time, a Stella McCartney is as recognizable as a Stella McCartney."

"I've been to Sarajevo a few times and have got to know a lot of people there who put on plays during the siege. I wanted to share in that because I knew it was important to them . . . I began to see something of what was going on there in terms of actually keeping up people's spirit to resist - the resistance that causes change - even in the worst imaginable circumstances. And I realized that it paralleled the same spirit that existed during the Holocaust and in the gulag. Theater and poetry were what helped people stay alive and want to go on living. That experience changed me, because I realized that if, as actors or writers or directors or designers, we can keep the will to resist alive in as many people as possible, then that's what we are about, and that's what we can do. It's more and more important because of the terrible things that are happening in our cities and the political and economic agendas that various governments have."

"As a mother you have got to have a view for now and a view for the future."

"I've come to see through the course of my life that people understand what I've tried to do, however inadequately I do it. I've just found people have come to understand me and be glad that I tried to do what I tried to do. And I do feel very inadequate about it, but I feel I must try . . . I think that any citizen can understand that you must raise your voice and do the best you can to speak out. CNN Larry King Live (June 18, 2005)."

"I'm mortified to have to pay 50%! [While] I use the NHS, I can't use public transport any more. Trains are always late, most state schools are shit, and I've gotta give you, like, four million quid – are you having a laugh? When I got my tax bill in from [the album] 19, I was ready to go and buy a gun and randomly open fire."

"I love seeing Lady Gaga's boobs and bum. I love seeing Katy Perry's boobs and bum. Love it. But that's not what my music is about. I don’t make music for eyes, I make music for ears."

"I don't really need to stand out, there's room for everyone. Although I haven't built a niche yet, I'm just writing love songs."

"I don't have any plans for new music, at all, I want a big break after this and I think I want to do other creative things, just for a little while."

"I don't like being famous. I love that I get to make music all the time."

"I have to wait for a feeling."

"If I get antsy, that's when I know I have to go to the studio, and I am the opposite of antsy right now."

"The guy whose movie it would be, he's not mentally ready to write the script for it."

"That's the only role I ever want," she said. "Because I think I'd nail it. I think I'd do really, really, really good at it."

"I haven't played in Europe since 2016! I couldn't think of a more wonderful way to spend my summer and end this beautiful phase of my life and career with shows closer to home during such an exciting summer."

"I actually have an ear infection, which is pretty grim. I've never had an ear infection before," she said. "It is the most painful thing that has ever, ever happened to me in my life — it was worse than childbirth."

"I am no longer in pain, which is great."

"No way I was missing the f------ show."

"I hadn't quite gotten the chance to get back to full health before shows resumed, and now I am sick again and unfortunately it's all taken a toll on my voice."

"I have 10 shows to do, but after that I will not see you for an incredibly long time, and I will hold you dear in my heart."

"It sounds obvious, but I think you only learn to love again when you fall in love again."

"I've never had a problem with the way I look. I'd rather have lunch with my friends than go to a gym."

"The bigger that your career gets, the smaller your life gets."

"I never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines. I represent the majority of women and I'm very proud of that."

"I can't be a product; no one can do that to me. I have all the say; I have power over everything I do."

"I'm a feminist. I believe that everyone should be treated the same, including race and sexuality."

"I'm just going to sing now because I want to, and I'll make records when I want to and not because someone is forcing me to do it. Not that anyone ever has. I'd fire them if they tried."

"I have insecurities of course, but I don't hang out with anyone who points them out to me."

"Should I give up, Or should I just keep chasing pavements? Even if it leads nowhere, Or would it be a waste? Even if I knew my place should I leave it there? Should I give up, Or should I just keep chasing pavements? Even if it leads nowhere."

"You say it's all in my head And the things I think just don't make sense So where you been then? Don't go all coy Don't turn it round on me like it's my fault See I can see that look in your eyes The one that shoots me each and every time. You grace me with your cold shoulder Whenever you look at me I wish I was her. You shower me with words made of knives Whenever you look at me I wish I was her."

"You said I'm stubborn and I never give in. I think you're stubborn 'cept you're always softening. You say I'm selfish, I agree with you on that. I think you're giving out way too much in fact. I say we've only known each other one year; You say I've known you longer my dear. You like to be so close, I like to be alone. I like to sit on chairs and you prefer the floor. Walking with each other, think we'll never match at all, but we do. But we do, but we do, but we do."

"Round my hometown, Memories are fresh. Round my hometown, Ooh the people I've met Are the wonders of my world."

"I like it in the city when the air is so thick and opaque I love to see everybody in short skirts, shorts and shades I like it in the city when two worlds collide You get the people and the government Everybody taking different sides."

"There's a fire starting in my heart Reaching a fever pitch, It’s bringing me out the dark Finally I can see you crystal clear Go head and sell me out And I'll lay your ship bare.See how I leave with every piece of you Don't underestimate the things that I will do."

"The scars of your love remind me of us They keep me thinking that we almost had it all. The scars of your love they leave me breathless. I can't help feeling We could have had it all. Rolling in the deep. You had my heart inside of your hand And you played it To the beat."

"Bless your soul, you've got you're head in the clouds, You made a fool out of you, And, boy, she's bringing you down, She made your heart melt, But you're cold to the core, Now rumour has it she ain't got your love anymore."

"I can't keep up with your turning tables Under your thumb, I can't breathe.I won't let you close enough to hurt me, no. I won't ask you, you to just desert me. I can't give you, what you think you gave me. It's time to say goodbye to turning tables."

"But I set fire to the rain, Watched it pour as I touched your face, Well it burnt while I cried, Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name! I set fire to the rain And I threw us into the flames Well it felt like something died Cause I knew that that was the last time, the last time!"

"Never mind, I'll find someone like you, I wish nothing but the best for you, too. Don't forget me, I beg. I remember you said, "Sometimes it lasts in love, But sometimes it hurts instead.""

"Hello from the other side, I must've called a thousand times To tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done, But when I call, you never seem to be home. Hello from the outside. At least, I can say that I've tried To tell you I'm sorry for breaking your heart, But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore."

"Send my love to your new lover, Treat her better. We've gotta let go of all of our ghosts. We both know we ain't kids no more."

"Let me photograph you in this light In case it is the last time that we might Be exactly like we were before we realised We were sad of getting old, it made us restless. It was just like a movie, It was just like a song."

"If you're not the one for me, Then how come I can bring you to your knees? If you're not the one for me, Why do I hate the idea of being free? And if I'm not the one for you, You've gotta stop holding me the way you do. Oh honey, if I'm not the one for you, Why have we been through what we have been through?"

"If you're gonna let me down, let me down gently. Don't pretend that you don't want me. Our love ain't water under the bridge."

"I can't love you in the dark, It feels like we're oceans apart. There is so much space between us, Baby, we're already defeated. Ah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, everything changed me."

"I only wanted to have fun Learning to fly, learning to run. I let my heart decide the way When I was young Deep down, I must have always known That this would be inevitable To earn my stripes, I'd have to pay And bare my soul."

"If this is my last night with you, Hold me like I'm more than just a friend. Give me a memory I can use, Take me by the hand while we do What lovers do. It matters how this ends 'Cause what if I never love again?"

"There ain't no gold in this river That I've been washin' my hands in forever. I know there is hope in these waters, But I can't bring myself to swim When I am drowning in this silence, Baby, let me in.Go easy on me, baby. I was still a child. Didn't get the chance to Feel the world around me. I had no time to choose what I chose to do, So go easy on me."

"Oh, my God, I can't believe it. Out of all the people in the world, What is the likelihood of jumping Out of my life and into your arms? Maybe, baby, I'm just losing my mind, 'Cause this is trouble, but it feels right. Teetering on the edge of Heaven and Hell Is a battle that I cannot fight."

"The distance in form, intention, mood and expression between Schubert's songs for voice and piano and those of, say, Adele, is remarkably small."

"The BBC seems determined to do everything in its power to present promiscuity as normal. What I found most hypocritical was that ostensibly the abortion scenes were meant to show its horror: but there was no attempt to point out that normal clean living would obviate such a fearful thing."

"It is a deliberate affront to the people to whom it gave so much offence by its near pornography and calculated bias. It would seem the BBC are out to test whether they have managed to condition people into accepting now what they rebelled against last year."

"[Television] may teach self-interest rather than philanthropy, violence rather than gentleness, a disregard for human dignity rather than a respect for it. It may not always teach the truth but teach it does, and it is more than time that responsible people both within and outside the broadcasting professions said boldly what is so obvious in commonsense terms — we cannot understand what is happening in international, cultural, economic, political and social affairs without coming to grips with the way in which television influences virtually all our behavioural and thought processes."

"Till Death Us Do Part: "I doubt if many people would use 121 bloodies in half-an-hour." "Bad language coarsens the whole quality of our life. It normalises harsh, often indecent language, which despoils our communication.""

"Jackanory: "Completely irresponsible""

"Dr Who: "Contains some of the sickest, most horrible material""

"The natural repugnance which most people feel when homosexuality and lesbianism is mentioned can result in a harshness of attitude and thinking which is, at least, unhelpful and certainly as unchristian as the perverse practices which are condemned. But to go to the other extreme and elevate people suffering from such abnormalities into a norm for society not only threatens society but is dangerous to the individuals themselves, since it excludes them from the consideration of treatment."

"Scientific research shows that the human brain is formed at the age of three months of foetal life and that from that time on there is a continuous learning process at work — everything heard from them then on will be stored in the memory and will have its effect. [E. J.] Kallmann maintains that the primary homosexual is entirely precipitated by abnormal (in terms of moral as well as physical norms) sexual behaviour of parents during pregnancy or just after."

"[I]t is because one is aware that many psychiatrists do believe homosexuality to be an illness that one is so against the proselytising of the young which is so large a part of the work of the organised homosexuals."

"I always felt that Mary Whitehouse thought of Doctor Who as a children's programme, for little children, and it wasn't... so she was really coming at the show from the wrong starting-point."

"She was in some obvious senses narrow-minded. She believed with passion that she was promoting virtue and righteousness; but her overriding puritanism determined that her main focus was on sex, followed by bad language and violence. Odd: if she had reversed the order, she might have been more effective."

"Let us take inspiration from that admirable woman, Mary Whitehouse. I do not accept all her ideas, she will not accept all mine. Yet we can see in her a shining example of what one person can do single-handedly when inspired by faith and compassion. An unknown middle-aged woman, a schoolteacher in the Midlands, set out to protect adolescents against the permissiveness of our time. Look at the scale of the opposing forces. On the one side, the whole of the new establishment, with their sharp words and sneers poised. Against them stood this one middle-aged woman. Today, her name is a household word, made famous by the very assaults on her by her enemies. She has mobilised and given fresh hearts to many who see where this current fashion is leading. Her book, Who Does She Think She Is? took its title from the outraged cry of an acolyte of the new hierarchy, who asked how an unknown woman dare speak up against the BBC, the educators and false shepherds. We too can take courage from her, and dedicate ourselves to fighting back on issues which will decide the nation's future far more than economics, however important it remains."

"She'll be sadly missed, I imagine, but not by me."

"I was far from happy too about the way in which the programme handled Mrs Mary Whitehouse on the occasion of the publication of her book Cleaning Up TV. This was done by [[w:Bernard Braden|[Bernard] Braden]] telling his audience what he thought Mrs Whitehouse's creed was — "I thought she was against violence ... I thought she was for censorship" — and then by cutting to Mrs Whitehouse herself and getting a short edited quote which contradicted his assumption. Thus when Mrs Whitehouse declared she was against censorship we were not told that according to her own book she is for it if it were “the only way of preventing the gradual erosion of our Christian values and the character of the nation". ... And Judging by the evidence of her book she feels that we are getting perilously close to that state. In other words, by her own standards, we are not very far away from the need for the very censorship Mrs Whitehouse claims she is against."

"[The] flak from Mary Whitehouse...was quite unwarranted. I think the kind of person who would have been upset by Doctor Who would have been upset by anything."

"Hey you, Whitehouse / Ha ha, charade you are ... You're trying to keep our feelings off the street ... Mary, you're nearly a treat / But you're really a cry"

"On the pro-life side of the fence, the public takes little notice of those who want to abolish abortion. They are dismissed as extremists. If I were to argue that all abortions should be banned, the ethical discussions would go round in circles because one person’s opinion is as valid as another's. My view is that the only way forward is to argue for a reduction in the time limit."

"I am not an MP for any reason other than because God wants me to be. There is nothing I did that got me here; it is what God did. There is nothing amazing or special about me, I am just a conduit for God to use."

"If we were in government and David [Cameron] didn't give me a front bench position, I would barricade myself inside his office until he did."

"I started blogging because I believe my constituents, who pay me, have a right to know what I get up to in Westminster. Many MPs are so secretive about how they spend their time but I say b******s to that."

"Do you know the people who have no voice in this country? Who are never written about, who journalists never talk about? The mums. Mums who decide that they will give up their careers and stay at home and look after their children."

"[In the 2005–2010 parliament, it was] very difficult to talk about the family unit, and to talk about mothers and children . . . as the foundation of society, because it was seen as a very unsexy, untrendy thing to do and the opposite of what a woman should be doing."

"My blog is 70% fiction and 30% fact. It is written as a tool to enable my constituents to know me better and to reassure them of my commitment to Mid Bedfordshire. I rely heavily on poetic licence and frequently replace one place name/event/fact with another."

"Unfortunately, I think that not only are Cameron and Osborne two posh boys who don't know the price of milk, but they are two arrogant posh boys who show no remorse, no contrition, and no passion to want to understand the lives of others - and that is their real crime."

"Gay marriage is a policy which has been pursued by the metro elite gay activists and needs to be put into the same bin [as reform of the House of Lords]."

"Be seen within a mile of my daughters and I will nail your balls to the floor... using your own front teeth. Do you get that?"

"[On relaxed EU restrictions on immigration from Bulgaria and Romania] There has been no tidal wave but there might be tomorrow, there might be next year - we don't know – and that is the problem. We could have a tidal wave from Yugoslavia."

"This deal gives us no voice, no votes, no MEPs, no commissioner."

"[On the question of privatising Channel 4, later an abandoned policy] I would argue that to say that just because Channel 4's been established as a public service broadcaster, and just because it's in receipt of public money, we should never kind of audit the future of Channel 4 and we should never evaluate how Channel 4 looks in the future, and whether or not it's a sustainable and valuable model, it’s quite right that the Government should do that."

"I can personally tell you that the Prime Minister, when he stands at the despatch box and makes quotes like the one you just quoted, is because the researchers and his advisers will have given him that quote, and that's... and he was truthful, to the best of his knowledge, when he made that quote [...] The Prime Minister does tell the truth."

"[On how well Channel 5 was doing] they were privatised a small number of years ago, three years ago, five years ago maybe."

"There is a process and the last thing I would want to do would be to cause a by-election in my constituency."

"It is my belief that when Rishi Sunak told Boris Johnson he would sign off the list returned to him by Holac, he was using weasel words [...] He already knew who was and wasn't on that list because he had engineered it via his aide [[w:James Forsyth (journalist)|[James] Forsyth]]. I'm not going to lie. I believe sinister forces conspired against me and have left me heartbroken - but that emotion gives me all the strength I need to keep on fighting."

"This expert legal opinion shows that the inquiry was a biased, Kafkaesque witch hunt – it should now be halted before it does any more damage. (Daily Mail, 1 September 2022)."

"[T]hey [the privileges committee] have nothing. He protested his innocence all along and he was right. It was a gross miscarriage of justice, at the very least. (Twitter, 3 March 2023)."

"I don’t think there was ever a world in which this committee was going to find Boris innocent. The committee have demonstrated very clearly that they have decided early on to find him guilty. (TalkTV, 23 March 2023)."

"[W]e also need to keep a close eye on the careers of the Conservative MPs who sat on that committee. Do they suddenly find themselves on chicken runs into safe seats? Gongs? Were promises made? We need to know if they were. Justice has to be seen to be done at all levels of this process. (Twitter, 15 June 2023)."

"I am grateful for your personal phone call on the morning you appointed your cabinet in October, even if I declined to take the call."

"It is a modus operandi established by your allies which has targeted Boris Johnson, transferred to Liz Truss and now moved on to me. But I have not been a Prime Minister. I do not have security or protection. Attacks from people, led by you, declared open season on myself and the past weeks have resulted in the police having to visit my home and contact me on a number of occasions due to threats to my person. Since you took office a year ago, the country is run by a zombie Parliament where nothing meaningful has happened. What exactly has been done or have you achieved? You hold the office of Prime Minister unelected, without a single vote, not even from your own MPs. You have no mandate from the people and the government is adrift. You have squandered the goodwill of the nation, for what?"

"It is a fact that there is no affection for Keir Starmer out on the doorstep. He does not have the winning X factor qualities of a Thatcher, Blair or a Boris Johnson, and sadly, prime minister, neither do you."

"[As the Conservative candidate for Mid-Bedfordshire in 2005] The circumstances of this selection are disputed: Dorries has since claimed that the candidate shortlist was made up mostly of men, whereas contemporary reports say it was largely women. This is noteworthy because, before she was selected, Dorries advocated all-women shortlists, but after her election she criticised David Cameron when he floated the idea of using them. Changing her mind has been a feature of Dorries's political career. She argued and voted against gay marriage, for example, dismissing it as a policy pursued "by the metro elite gay activists". She has since said that her opposition to the gay marriage bill was her "biggest regret"."

"There is perhaps an element of the unreliable narrator about the part-time novelist."

"As complex as it is to calibrate how much Dorries can take credit for normalising extreme MP moonlighting, ... her achievement in juggling political duties with the relentless production of novels, a third career on TalkTV and a fourth one as a Daily Mail columnist, looks almost uniquely harsh on affected constituents. Her website features, in the absence of surgery dates and political content, promotions of her TV slots and books. Add to that her all-purpose put-down (her own money being proletarian) of "posh boys", her employment on the public payroll of two daughters, her loyalty to the groper and wife-beater Stanley Johnson and a sideline in aggressive and misleading tweets, and you can almost understand Dorries’s incredulity on being finally, after all that, thwarted. At the point she was denied her peerage, she hadn't even been condemned by the privileges committee for her part in an "unprecedented and coordinated" attack on its members!"

"It has now been 395 days since the MP spoke in the Commons, 102 days since she voted and a remarkable three years and five months since she held a surgery — though her local office has continued to function. In that time, one pandemic and two prime ministers have been defeated. In addition, Dorries is reported to live 100 miles away from her constituency, in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire."

""The slide" began in 2012, after Dorries' appearance on I'm a Celebrity, when eating ostrich anus seemingly went to her head."

"Nadine Dorries has exposed the split in the Conservative party between vulgarity and conformity. The decision of the MP for Mid Bedfordshire to go on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! is an astonishingly rude attack on the well-bred, self-controlled establishment headed by David Cameron."

"Let us examine first the case of the Tory MP Nadine Dorries, who was cleared last month by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner of wrongly claiming some £60,000 in second-home allowances. Central to Dorries's defence was her assertion that she spent the bulk of her time in her old house in the Cotswolds (billed as her primary home) rather than her Bedfordshire constituency, which she stated was her secondary residence (and, therefore, allowable for expenses). Here, though, Dorries ran into an apparently insuperable problem: she had incriminated herself in her blog by giving the strong impression that she spent the majority of her time in Bedfordshire. Miss Dorries got around this difficulty by informing the parliamentary standards commissioner [about her blog being "70 per cent fiction and 30 per cent fact...".]"

"In other words, her blog was, for the most part, a lie, designed to give constituents the impression that she was doing her duty as a diligent MP in Bedfordshire when actually she was in another part of the country altogether. This is a wretched state of affairs and if David Cameron were a Tory leader who valued integrity and honesty, he would surely have ordered Miss Dorries to apologise personally to her constituents, and stripped her of the party whip there and then. Instead, he has done nothing."

"I'm not sorry for stealing my husband from his wife."

"Would I employ you if you were obese? No I would not. You would give the wrong impression to the clients of my business. I need people to look energetic, professional and efficient. If you are obese you look lazy."

"The difference between most mothers and me is that I didn't sit around drinking coffee at baby group for 12 months after the birth of my baby. No, in three weeks I was back in my suit, back at my desk earning profit for my business and I don’t see why other women shouldn't do the same."

"Women don’t want equal treatment, they couldn’t handle it if they got it. It’s a tough world out there. What a lot of women are actually looking for is special treatment. What women need to realise is that they have to toughen up."

"Ramadan typically brings a spike in violence in Middle East. I get grumpy when I don't eat - but I don't blow things up. Religion of peace?"

"More than other subjects there’s a myth that you have to be an absolute genius to be good at maths and to enjoy it, so I think it’s less accessible for people. Even the word “maths” makes people screw their face up."

"I see the maths face quite a lot. It’s the blind panic that they have to do maths in front of people. It’s just fear and dread. There’s definitely a maths face – try it on someone."

"I’m really interested in male and female brains and whether female brains or male brains are better at maths. You sit men and women down and give them a maths test and they will do fairly equally. Then you set up the same test, but with different people, and make them tick a box to say whether they are a man or a woman, and the women do significantly worse in the maths test than they did previously in a group set."

"When you tell people that you are studying maths at uni, they are like, “Oh …”. Especially a blonde Essex girl."

"Men are not as scared to lose and they’ve got a lot more time to devote to, not exactly pointless things, but to being good at things like Countdown."

"This culture has developed, with those who’ve created it, doing so in the name of today's incarnation of Labour. There’s nothing kinder nor gentler about it."

"Acton, half an hour ago. Popped into a cafe for some baklava with the kids and our Ukrainian friends. People have been brutally murdered, kidnapped and there are people in London dancing."

"I just passed two cars in West London driving with Palestinian flags flying from each window, bouncing up and down in their cars, seemingly celebrating like they were having a party. Make no mistake, this is a dangerous and terrifying time for all Jews around the world."

"I came to the understanding that individually we are responsible for the way in which we live and for the care of our human frame by good nutrition, proper exercise and a balanced lifestyle. It is this, together with a strong focused mind, that enables us to draw from our vast inner resources and strength to make the most of our time on this planet. The changes in my life came by way of a massive physical and psychological shock and were implemented for the purpose of healing and motivating my recovery. A change in our diet and lifestyle of course can be started at any time, and is of interest to anybody wishing to maximise their health and vitality, leading to a more fulfilling life. This was how I discovered the benefits of cutting meat and dairy from my diet and then taking the correct care of my body’s nutritional requirements to help heal my mind, body and soul."

"Having faith in the future starts with building confidence in one's self, being honest with one's self, and having the courage to live one's life, not perfectly, but authentically. Each one of us matters. Our choices matter. Our thoughts, words and deeds matter. Live each day with joy, and embrace the opportunities that will enable you and your community to grow and blossom."

"Each time we eat we are choosing to support a system. In our choice of agricultural production methods, we can support one which either helps our future, or one which undermines it. The same is true of our actual dietary choices we make. The healthiest diet is one rich in fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains and legumes, low in animal products. This is better for the environment, our health and of course animals. I'm a vegan because I care for animals and for the future of our planet. Additionally, a vegan diet helps to prevent and reverse a range of non-communicable diseases including heart disease, high blood pressure, cholesterol, type II diabetes. Each time we eat, we are either feeding disease, or fighting it."

"What I am so surprised at is that smart people who I admire, who are absolutely pro-science in other areas, and champion human rights & womens rights are tying themselves in knots to avoid saying the truth that men cannot change into women (because that might hurt mens feelings)."

"From the earliest I can remember, I have understood that there is one sex or the other."

"Males are people with the type of body which, if all things are working, are able to produce sperm. Women are adult human females. Men are adult human males. There are only two sexes in humans. No change of clothes or hairstyle, no plastic surgery, no accident or illness, no course of hormones, no force of will or social conditioning, no declaration can turn a female person into a male."

"It's not a huge thing to ask. It’s only the most egregious, violent, dangerous beliefs that are not protected, such as saying you are a Nazi or you are wanting to overthrow government by violent revolution or that you are a Holocaust denier. Ultimately, what it comes down to is an attack on my right to free speech. Can you really compare what I believe in – that sex is a biological reality – to the truly evil beliefs of the Nazis?"

"This comes with an extraordinary state-sponsored invisibility cloak. It will be a crime to reveal information about a “person’s gender before it became the acquired gender”. This means their sex becomes a secret — or at least an open, unmentionable secret. The invisibility cloak starts working not at the point when a person receives a gender recognition certificate, but when they apply for it. And there is nothing to stop a person repeating the process: returning to their biological sex, with a new identity that has no public link to either of their previous identities. The opportunity for this personal shell scheme to facilitate financial or sexual abuse should not be dismissed. Undermining the organisational record-keeping systems which underpin safeguarding and "safer recruitment" of staff to work with children and vulnerable people is just one area of concern."

"I do feel vindicated. The tribunal found that I was a victim of discrimination, and not a perpetrator, which is the story that has been told about me for the past three years. But it is weird, too. This case took on a life of its own a long time ago. It is both about me, and not about me. The implications of the judgment are going to have a huge impact. The most important thing I ever did, it seems, was to lose my job."

"The Scottish Bill tears up the UK’s criteria for awarding a gender recognition certificate based on medical assessment, and allows anyone to get a GRC based on a declaration, with no medical treatments or safeguards. This means there will be many more people able to get a certificate, and organisations will never be able to feel confident excluding someone who is clearly male from female-only spaces and services. A key question for the UK Government is whether they will accept people who have been through the Scottish system but were born in England and Wales to change the sex on their birth certificate. Scotland would in effect act like a 'haven' of light regulation that would then spill out across the UK. For schools there would be huge problems. Single-sex schools are allowed by law, but now schools would face having to admit a child of the opposite sex, and would be threatened with criminal penalties if teachers and staff 'disclose' the child’s actual sex to other staff, pupils or parents. The UK Government does not have to accept this outcome. It should refer the Bill to the Supreme Court and make sure that the Scottish Parliament only legislates within its own domain, and does not ignore women’s rights and child safeguarding."

"This is a rapist who lied about raping these two women and who was found to have lied about it in court. So I don’t think we can rule out that he might be lying about his feelings of being a woman. But in any case, that is what the policy allows. The policy allows a man who feels like he is a woman or thinks he is a woman to apply to be housed in the women’s prison. So it’s inviting that kind of gaming."

"The centre employed a man who wishes he was a woman as CEO and allowed that to corrupt the whole purpose of the organisation."

"Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill"

"The white British population has decreased by 600,000, while the minority population has increased by 1.2 million. So yes, lads, we're winning!"

"I'm on Team Hate."

"[Asked what makes her tick?] Petty vengeance and hopefulness."

"Mama Sarkar didn't raise a diplomat."

"I'm literally a communist, you idiot."

"No ones saying that Jewish people don’t experience racism. That’s obviously true, especially online. But unlike me, you can *also* benefit from white privilege."

"The unfortunate truth is that, sometimes, the only thing that separates an anonymous troll and a journalist is a byline. Some of the worst abuse I’ve received is either from journalists or the direct consequence of their actions in spreading misinformation about me."

"If the super-rich can spend £250,000 on vanity jaunts 2.4 miles beneath the ocean then they’re not being taxed enough."

"We get well-funded public services, they get saved from the consequences of their own hubris. What's not to like?"

"The Titanic submarine is a modern morality tale of what happens when you have too much money, and the grotesque inequality of sympathy, attention and aid for those without it."

"We would ask the BBC to explain why someone who defended the desecration of a memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising has been invited to speak on a programme about the rise of the Nazis. Given the outrage her comments have caused, the invitation by the programme makers seems both insensitive and provocative."

"The decision is dire but we have a plan” which includes “fighting the government and Equinor here on the streets but we are also going to fight them in court”."

"A legal challenge is being prepared challenge the approval."

"The confidence that carried me through that initial uncertainty was at least partly inspired by the women I worked with for the previous three years."

"In short, as critical as it is for us to speak up as individuals, our real power emerges when we act collectively."

"We've made Freedom of Information requests going back to 2009 about men's fatal violence against women. From this we've identified that 62% of women killed by men are killed by a partner or ex-partner, and that at least a third of these women were in the process of leaving, or had left him; that teenage girls, as well as women in their 80s or 90s, can be killed by men who were supposed to love them; that 92% of women who are killed by men are killed by someone they know. One in 12 is a woman who is killed by her son."

"All women are controlled by men's violence. Whether or not they are the ones on the receiving end, it affects every one of us."

"Young, professional, conventionally attractive, white women who are killed by strangers get the most attention but we must stop perpetuating this hierarchy of victims."

"The figure of eight per cent of women killed by men in the UK being killed by a stranger is consistent with the average since our records began in 2009. So ask me whether anything has changed since Sarah's murder, and my answer is no."

"As women are still deprived from direct power to shape the destiny of this country, we must demand that our fellow men do their utmost to preserve peace and prevent the destruction of our communities. You are the only people who can prevent this crime from taking place. We are in contact with our sisters in Europe and America and we all believe that nothing can be gained from violence. We must appeal instead to reason and humanity."

"In these days when men are making us spend all our substance and strength on winning the liberty they out to be giving us with both hands – I have no heart to subsidise men’s things at all…except just to hold my seat on the Town Council."

"I send you the notice of the women’s victory here – in a municipal lodging House. It is so nice, so complete, so good & simple that it ought to be a success and an example to other places- and it is such a pleasure to me to have it called by my name even though I don’t deserve it and Mrs Clark & the women guardians Cttee ought somehow to have been joined in."

"Dear Mrs Macdonald,"

"Feminism is, by its very nature, about the validation of difference and Otherness - the female as 'the first step on the road along abnormality'. All I am doing is arguing that we go down that road a little further and pick up a few more allies and friends; if for no other reason than the fact that half of the disabled community are our sisters."

"The ideological driven philosophy of the Conservatives that 'if we do not legally have to do it - don't do it at all' is the opposite of what any fair, equal and just society should be."

"We [Wolverhampton] have been a city for 19 years and they need to catch up. Are they that out of touch that they did not bother to look it up?"

"What is certain is that disability, the wheelchair, is often much more fascinating than the dullness of the ordinary, i.e., the 'normal'."

"The Labour Party has strayed from the core values I once shared with the Party. My political beliefs prevent me from compromising my principles for a party that appears to have none. The democratic fabric of the Labour Party has been compromised under your leadership, Keir Starmer, becoming increasingly autocratic that marginalises diverse voices, especially those of women, people of colour, Muslims, and Jews. This betrayal of democratic ideals, along with the party's major shift towards antisemitism and islamophobia, is unacceptable."

"The Labour Party’s commitment to continued austerity and Brexit will further undermine jobs, education, and opportunities in our city. This abandonment of the working class is inexcusable."

"The Labour Party's stance on Palestine is morally wrong and ignores the suffering of the Palestinian people. I support the United Nations and the UN Human Rights Council calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, as well as an immediate ban on arms sales to Israel as well as sanctions."

"This honour is not just for me, but for Wolverhampton itself—a city of resilience, creativity, and community spirit. It belongs to every individual and organisation that works tirelessly to make our city a better place."

"If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just."

"Business itself is now the most powerful force for change in the world today, richer and faster by far than most governments."

"In a way, campaigning with The Hepatitis C Trust is business as usual. I've always felt that activism is my rent for living on this planet."