Betty Boothroyd

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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."

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.

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

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

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.