20 year old student Edith Berryman at the #RejoinEU rally in parliament square calling for the UK to rejoin the European Union @MarchForRejoin
"10 years since the Brexit referendum. I am 20 years old. I have grown up living with the consequences of that decision. I have a simple question. Did Brexit deliver what we were promised? My argument is simple."
"Brexit has had a real measurable economic cost. Not just in political arguments, but in productivity, investment and living standards, not just one opinion or one forecast."
"This is the conclusion we keep seeing across UK institutions and independent research. The question is not what people believed in 2016. The question is what can we learn from the evidence shown in 2026?"
"And the evidence is clear. Firstly, in productivity, this again doesn't come from one political campaign or one think tank. This comes from the UK government, government's own Office for Budget Responsibility. Their estimate is that Brexit reduces long term, UK productivity by around 4% compared to staying in the EU."
"And more recent academic work shows that figure even higher to around 6 to 8%. To put it simply, a smaller economy than we otherwise would have had. Secondly, investment. Because countries don't just grow by accident, they grow because business."
"This creates, invests and builds for the future. Business investment in the UK fell sharply after the referendum and has remained weaker than expected ever since. Independent studies estimate it is around 10 to 15% lower than it would have been without Brexit."
"And that matters because investment means jobs, it means wages, it means opportunities for the next generation, the younger generation, my generation, alph."
"They estimate this loss in productivity translates into around 470 pounds per worker per year in lower wages over time, not just for today, but for years ahead. Thirdly, living standards."
"Because this is where the debate stops being about statistics and it becomes real people's everyday lives. Research from institutions like the London School of Economics has found that Brexit related trade barriers increased costs in everyday goods, including food, contributing to higher household bills."
"And some estimates suggest it could amount to around 250 pounds a year for the average household. And the Resolution foundation has found over, the long term, real wages are lower than they otherwise would have been expected to be. So when you put all three together, products, investment, living standards, you do not get one political slogan, you do not get one isolated focus."
"You get a consistent picture from official institutions and independent research. And the question then becomes, how did we get here from what we were promised? Because this isn't just about numbers on a spreadsheet."
"Behind every percentage point is a real life. It's about whether young people can afford a home, whether your business can grow, whether families feel like their wages are, going further. I think the biggest issue here is Trust."
"In 2016, people were asked to make one of the biggest decisions in modern British history. They were promised that leaving would mean more control, more money and a stronger future. People were told, on the side of a bus, that leaving the EU would free up 350 million pounds a week for the NHS."
"But now, 10 years on, we have to be honest about the gap between what was promised and what actually happened. Because democracy, it doesn't depend on everyone getting every decision right. Democracy depends on us being willing to look at the evidence afterwards and ask, did this work?"
"What can we learn and what should we do next? Ten years ago, Britain chose a new direction. Today, we have the chance to choose what comes next. Not based on nostalgia, not based on slogans, not based on fear."
"Based on reality. And, the future isn't built on ignoring the evidence, is built by facing it. So the question for 2026 is, now that we know the cost, what should we do next? Thank you very much."
76 yaşında Richard Gere'in söylediği, yalnızca yaşlanmaktan korkanların değil, herkesin duyması gereken sözler…
Yaşlılık sadece kırışıklık değildir.
Sadece beyaz saç da değildir.
Kimlikte yazan bir sayı hiç değildir.
Asıl yaşlılık, hayatın peşinden durmadan koşmak yerine onu yaşamayı öğrendiğiniz andır.
Evet, beden değişir.
Yüz, gençlikteki gibi kalmaz.
Hareketler yavaşlar.
Ayna ise gerçeği her zamankinden daha açık gösterir.
Ama zamanın elinden alamadığı bir şey vardır:
Kalp.
Çünkü kalp, beden gibi yaşlanmaz.
İlk sevgiyi, ilk hayali, ilk acıyı, ilk kaybı ve dünyayı kucaklamak istediğiniz o ilk sevinci hep hatırlar.
Ruhun yaşı yoktur.
Yıllar geçtikçe belki de en önemli gerçeği anlarız:
Her yaş, yaşanması gereken doğru yaştır.
• 20'li yaşlar cesaret verir.
• 30'lu yaşlar inşa etme gücü kazandırır.
• 40'lı yaşlar insanı kendisiyle dürüst olmaya götürür.
• 50'li yaşlar derinlik kazandırır.
• 60'lı yaşlar bilgelik getirir.
• 70'li yaşlar ise artık kimseye bir şey ispat etme ihtiyacı duymayan huzuru sunar.
Her yaşın kendine özgü bir armağanı vardır.
Yaş almak bir yenilgi değil, bir ayrıcalıktır.
Çünkü herkes saçlarının beyazladığını göremez.
Herkes çocuklarının büyüdüğüne tanıklık edemez.
Herkes yeni bir baharı karşılayamaz.
Herkes sabah uyanıp, "Ben hâlâ buradayım." diyemez.
Çoğu zaman zamana karşı savaşırız.
Kırışıklıkları gizleriz.
Yaşımızdan utanırız.
Eski fotoğraflarla kendimizi kıyaslarız.
Oysa gerçek zafer, dışarıdan genç görünmek değil; içten yaşlanmamaktır.
Merakını koruyabilmek…
Nezaketini kaybetmemek…
Hayata hâlâ şaşırabilmek…
İçtenlikle gülebilmek…
Korkmadan sevebilmek…
Küçük şeylere şükredebilmek…
Sessiz günlerde bile güzelliği görebilmek…
Çünkü genç görünmenin değil, son güne kadar canlı bir ruha sahip olmanın sırrı önemlidir.
O zaman geçen her yıl bir kayıp olmaktan çıkar, bir armağana dönüşür.
Yaş almaktan korkmayın. Asıl korkulması gereken, hayatı gerçekten yaşamadan ömrü tüketmektir. Çünkü yaşlanmak solup gitmek değil, bazen insanın içten içe parlamaya başlamasıdır. 🌿✨
@akiluno_a
If you have a spare 3 mins and 45 secs today, watch this fantastic grilling by Sally Nugent on BBC Breakfast.
The very first time I've seen Farage questioned properly about his £5M bung, and it's fair to say, he totally fluffed it.
There are points when you can see Farage tremble and even accuse the BBC of putting him in danger. 🤦♂️
It was for security. It was for cars. Nobody cares. It's no one's business. He won't tell us. DANGER!
At one point, he let slip that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards may 'disagree' with him on the rules around donations.
He knows he's going to be found guilty on this one. He's in trouble, and his face gave it away gloriously.
Top hats off to Sally Nugent. Stellar work. 👏
@colettebondire Munster were brutal, exceptionally bad I thought. It was a “hard watch”. Sadly, I have to fully agree with all of your observational comments. 😩😩
“ZIONISM IS A BRUTAL RACIST IDEOLOGY”
-Vanessa Redgrave said this 48 years ago when people did not even know how to spell the word.
Her career was sacrificed for the truth.
🚨OH - MY - GOD!!! Trump has a total MELTDOWN and loses his freaking mind live on 60 Minutes.
He literally shouts:
"I'M NOT A PEDOPHILE."
"I’M NOT A RAPIST."
"YOU’RE A DISGRACE."
Trump snapped when the reporter read part of the shooter’s manifesto, but here’s the thing:
SHE NEVER SAID IT WAS TRUMP.
This is a total DISASTER.
Amal Khalil, a Lebanese journalist, was targeted today by the IDF in South Lebanon, together with other colleagues. Two were killed, one injured and Amal is still under the rubble. The Red Cross tried to extract her but they were targeted too by the Israelis and had to retreat.
Israel murdered every single person in this photo today in South Lebanon.
Every. Single. One.
2 journalists
7 paramedics
1 Lebanese soldier
They bombed the journalists’ vehicle — then bombed them again when paramedics rushed to help.