Women Activists

"If, in the worst possible scenario, we leave the European Union without a deal, people must have the opportunity to reject that disastrous outcome, either through a public vote, or through parliamentary democracy."

"What we know about the Tories is that they want to reduce the amount of money that government spends. So my fear is that Brexit will be used as an opportunity by them to reduce the amount of investment we get in Wales."

"All forms of political violence are the same. USA, Barcelona, everywhere. They are ideology-driven & we have to understand that to stop it."

"If you live here and you want to be Welsh then as far as we are concerned, you are Welsh and your rights will be defended by the Party of Wales"

"I'm not Natalie, I'm Leanne"

"[The] police needed to be given sufficient resources to do that job properly"

"[We have a] positive Brexit plan focused on protecting the 200,000 jobs in Wales that rely on tariff-free access to the EU single market"

"Things have moved on. We've moved on from the referendum. We've moved on from talking about membership of the single market."

"Be it on tourism, farming, higher education or jobs, we are determined to overcome the threats and seek out and seize upon the opportunities which may come with leaving the EU."

"It's time to move on from the 2016 referendum and focus on what a good deal for Wales could look like"

"Wales cannot afford to pay the price for a hard Brexit."

"Plaid Cymru believes that decisions about Wales are best made in Wales and the way in which this hard Brexit is being pursued highlights exactly why. If the UK Government's Brexit negotiation also leads to the Welsh national interest being overlooked, support will grow for greater control of our own affairs in Wales."

"There can be no greater priority for our party right now than upholding the Welsh national interest during the months ahead as the UK government begins the process of leaving the European Union."

"The National Assembly is an important institution to us a party. It is vital that the leader is in that institution."

"After much consideration, I'm not standing as MP for the Rhondda. Confident that @Plaid_Cymru will have very strong candidate."

"There are countries that are outside of the EU but inside the single market, like Norway."

"While Wales may have voted to leave, no one voted to give the Tories a blank cheque to wreck the Welsh economy by dragging us out of the single market and jeopardising 200,000 jobs,"

"[Mr Davis was] left in no doubt over the importance of single market participation"

"The challenge we all face now is ensuring that as we prepare to leave the EU we secure the best possible deal for Wales. Together, we intend to rise to that challenge."

"The most important outcome for Wales from any negotiations is to be in the single market. By upping the ante on migration, Mr Corbyn and the Labour party risk giving Theresa May the political cover needed for a hard Brexit. If the speech makes rejecting the principle of freedom of movement a priority, then it will help the Tories make a case for leaving the single market, which would be disastrous for the Welsh economy. Labour, despite being the UK opposition, cannot be trusted to know what is best for the Welsh economy."

"Now, that [the Norwegian model] would enable us to retain an element of freedom of movement"

"We have to recognise the vote and people voted to leave. So what we do now is discuss the best kind of Brexit possible for Wales; the least worst option, if you like."

"I've got quite a thick skin... but I don't think we should just accept threats of rape or shootings"

"For me, it meant not being able to go to school, hang out with friends or go to the cinema. It was almost like house arrest. Having a disability in Syria often means that you are hidden away. You confront shame, discrimination and physical barriers. You are someone who is pitied."

"[Coming back to life was not hard] You know what's hard? Getting from Syria to Germany: There are some amazing people coming through that border. This amazing 16-year-old girl, Nujeen Mustafa, she's our kind of people."

"I feel like Merkel is under pressure because some people are bad ambassadors of the refugees, and they are not representing a good image of us. What I would like to say is that she is doing good for the EU and for Germany: Germany is getting better from the love from refugees. She’s doing good, and I hope she keeps us."

"You feel like you’re in a constant test. With terror attacks happening in Europe (such as in Berlin and Ansbach last year, and recent attacks in London and Manchester) it puts even more pressure on refugees. You feel guilty until proven innocent. It pushes the button for us to work harder and prove that we think it’s wrong, too."

"The most exciting part! The kids were crying around me and I felt like a crazy person because I was the only one who was smiling the whole time. Sometimes it’s good to be too young to be aware of what’s going on around you. Maybe I was too young to realise [the danger]."

"Count us, because we count too. This should not be just another meeting where we make grand statements and then move on...You can and should do more, to ensure that people with disabilities, are included in all aspects of your work – we can’t wait any longer."

"I'm dancing the seven veils Want you to pick up my scarf See how the black moon fades Soon I can give you my heart. I don't know no shame I feel no pain I can't see the flame But I do know Man-din-ka I do know Man-din-ka"

"And as I see through the real you I'm falling straight into A thousand broken Mirrors I can't hide And outside the bright lights Can't hide the pain inside And I've broken a thousand mirrors"

"In 1992, Sinéad performed Bob Marley’s “War” on Saturday Night Live, then proceeded to rip up a photo of Pope John Paul II on live TV, declaring, quote, “Fight the real enemy.” The move, a protest against systemic child abuse in the Catholic Church, of which she was a survivor, provoked widespread uproar. She addressed her SNL performance days later during an interview with Entertainment Tonight. (SINÉAD O’CONNOR: "Ireland has the highest incidence in Europe of child abuse. I experienced it myself. And I find his presence in Ireland, telling the young people of Ireland that he loved them, hilarious. At least when I studied the history, I found out that the people who were responsible for telling lies in the first place were at the Vatican, who, through permitting the invasion of countries and the destruction and murder of entire races of people in the name of God and for money, and then their subsequent overtaking of the educational systems of all the countries that they went into, led to distortion of historical fact.") AG: Sinéad O’Connor was an ally of the LGBTQ communities, marched for abortion rights decades before it was legalized in Ireland. She converted to Islam and started using the name Shuhada’ Sadaqat in 2018, alongside the name Sinéad O’Connor. She spoke out for Palestinian rights, respecting the Palestinian civil society call for BDS, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel, once saying, quote, “on a human level, nobody with any sanity, including myself, would have anything but sympathy for the Palestinian plight. There’s not a sane person on earth who in any way sanctions what … the Israeli authorities are doing,” Sinéad said."

"I have an invitation for you. Is there a celebration? No, I'm not inviting you to a celebration. I'm inviting you to a war... I'll lead you, if you have sheep, give them away If you have a family, leave them"

"I'm walking through the desert And I am not frightened although it's hot I have all that I requested And I do not want what I haven't got"

"Maybe it sounds mean But I really don't think so You asked for the truth And I told you Through their own words They will be exposed"

"No I wouldn't have pulled you to me No I wouldn't have kissed your face You wouldn't have begged me to hold you If we hadn't been there in the first place Ah but I know you wanted me to be there oh oh Every look that you threw told me so But you should've left the light on You should've left the light on And the flames burned away But you're still spitting fire Make no difference what you say You're still a liar You're still a liar."

"Oh, I love you God, I love you I'd kill a dragon for you I'll die But I will rise And I will return The Phoenix from the flame I have learned I will rise And you'll see me return Being what I am There is no other Troy For me to burn."

"And I never meant to hurt you I swear I didn't mean Those things I said I never meant to do that to you Next time I'll keep my hands to myself instead."

"You will rise You'll return The phoenix from the flame You will learn You will rise You'll return Being what you are There is no other Troy For you to burn."

"I'll remember it And Dublin in a rainstorm And sitting in the long grass in summer Keepin' warm I'll remember it Every restless night We were so young then We thought that everything We could possibly do was right."

"What if Thunberg is offering policy makers two messages for the price of one? The first is, of course, about climate. But the second is that the world wouldn’t come to an end if the school week were shortened by a day. Going to a rally and reading up about the issues involved might do more good than polishing a chair in class... Homeschooling isn’t the answer... For her part, Thunberg is done wasting her time, at least for now. She is taking the next school year off to continue her climate change campaign. Whatever school she ends up in next is unlikely to make stringent attendance demands on a potential Nobel Peace Prize winner."

"The contrast between Thunberg’s academic achievement and her attendance record raises important questions. What kind of example does she set for the millions of kids who skipped school to participate in the climate protests? Should attendance be compulsory and, if so, why should it be required for someone like Thunberg? In Sweden, nine years of full-time education are mandatory and home-schooling is practically illegal..."

"Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist who started the Friday school strikes, has graduated from secondary education with 14 As and three Bs. She got these excellent grades despite being absent from class far more than most of her followers: As the leader of a movement, an international celebrity, and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, she traveled extensively during her last school year."

"People can sneer all they want at Ms. Thunberg, just as their predecessors sneered at earlier protest movements and called them a waste of time. But many of those campaigns did have an effect. Some stopped wars. Some brought about laws that outlawed racist policies. Some stopped whales from being butchered indiscriminately. No, Greta Thunberg is not going to save the planet on her own. But at least she is holding those in a position to do something about climate change to account, speaking hard truths many others are afraid to. She is not an attention seeker. She is a young person frightened to death about the state of the world she is inheriting. Sure, mumble that she is a disillusioned naif if you wish. I prefer to think of Ms. Thunberg as something else: a powerful and vital new voice in the climate debate. And someone who deserves support, encouragement and thanks from her fellow global citizens."

"She also told them that not everyone is to blame for the climate crisis. No, she looked them in the eye and said that they were to blame. And we will always love her for that."

"To the rich and mighty at Davos who praised her for giving them hope, she replied, “I don’t want your hope. … I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house is on fire, because it is.”"

"To the British MPs who asked her to speak, she asked, “Is my English OK? Is the microphone on? Because I’m beginning to wonder.”"

"Greta Thunberg is one of the great truth-tellers of this or any time. Let me refresh your memories about some of her most iconic lines. To the U.N. climate negotiators in Poland last December, she said: “You are not mature enough to tell it like it is. Even that burden you leave to us children.”"

"Greta has the sense of moral clarity and laser focus that is one of the things I love and value about myself and other autistic people. We’re different — I’m brown, she’s white, and I feel more political commonality with Black and Brown young climate activists like Isra Hirsi and Autumn Peltier who are making connections between colonialism, racism and climate justice. But when I look at Greta’s unsmiling, outraged face, I feel a sense of autistic intimacy. But women are supposed to smile and be polite, don’t you know? Women and non-cis guys are supposed to be gracious and gentle and apologize and make eye contact. Autistic women and non-cis guys are often under even more pressure to keep up with traditional, neurotypical gender standards. We are not supposed to just say what the fuck we believe, call people out, and not smile doing it. We are not supposed to be autistic in public, without apology, let alone have any kind of radical politics. But Greta is."

"Thunberg's blithe disregard for the benefits of economic growth is not uncommon for people from wealthy countries who are already living in an industrialized world built by the fossil fuels of yesteryear. For them, they associate additional economic growth with access to high fashion and luxury cars. But for the billions of human beings living outside these places, fossil-fuel-driven industrialization can be the difference between life and death."