Betty Boothroyd Quotes

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Betty Boothroyd

Profession : Politician

Birth : October 8, 1929

Do not let anyone get away with the argument that tearing our country out of one of the most successful partnerships in our history is somehow a great act of patriotism. It is not.

Betty Boothroyd

If Labour ends up on the scrapheap of history, it will do so because of its own foolishness and self-inflicted wounds. What party in its right mind would allow a combination of far-left enemies, militant trade unions and first-time supporters to decide its fate?

Betty Boothroyd

It's like miners' coal dust underneath your fingernails. Very difficult to scrub out. I'm a social democrat to my fingertips.

Betty Boothroyd

Being speaker has afforded me a unique opportunity to serve parliament, for which I am immensely grateful.

Betty Boothroyd

The high reputation of Westminster abroad is not entirely reflected at home.

Betty Boothroyd

The group For Our Future's Sake will tour key marginal constituencies to ensure first that young people register to vote then, second, that they use that vote tactically to keep their hope of a final Brexit referendum alive.

Betty Boothroyd

My dreams of taking the West End by storm as a dancer flickered but then faded; my father's ambition to see me in a steady office job was tried and abandoned. But I had won a national speaking award, had stood for election to the local council, had begun to travel and took a job working for the Labour Party.

Betty Boothroyd

As a member of the House of Lords, I don't have a vote. If I did, I would be motivated as much by what I don't want as what I do. I do want a Final Say referendum. So I do not want a Johnson majority.

Betty Boothroyd

Whatever your age, think about the young generation. And try to give them back the future being taken from them.

Betty Boothroyd

People talk often of Brexit as the biggest challenge since the Second World War. It is certainly proving to be a lot more difficult and complicated than was promised by those who won the referendum campaign in 2016.

Betty Boothroyd

I travelled to Germany to witness for myself what nationalism, populism and the breakdown of peace between the great European nations had done. Amidst the rubble I made great friends who have remained friends for the rest of our lives.

Betty Boothroyd

Already, even before we have left the EU, Brexit is damaging our country, our economy, our society and our standing in the world - damage that will be worsened by the kind of ruinous no deal being pledged by some who aspire to become prime minister.

Betty Boothroyd

I'm a patriot, but I'm also a European. I think the two go together.

Betty Boothroyd

I came out of the womb into the Labour movement.

Betty Boothroyd

There are very good people in the Labour Party who I would like to see in leadership.

Betty Boothroyd

You've got to ensure that the holders of an opinion, however unpopular, are allowed to put across their points of view.

Betty Boothroyd

I think it would have been nice to have a family; it would be nice to have grandchildren.

Betty Boothroyd

I say to myself: 'Come on, Betty, you can't have everything in life. You've been very lucky.'

Betty Boothroyd

We fought big time fascists when I was knee high to a grasshopper up in Yorkshire, when I grew up I fought fascists in the West Midlands in the form of the National Front.

Betty Boothroyd

Europe needs us just as much as we need Europe and it's time to stop fiddling for a solution, it's time to implement the solution.

Betty Boothroyd