by Her Excellency Ismara Mercedes Vargas Walter, Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to the United Kingdom
SAMANTHA MORTON grew up in care and experienced homelessness and abuse that led to drug use and crime. But at 16 her life was transformed. Today, the 47-year-old Nottingham-born actress continues to enjoy a hugely successful career in theatre, film and television.
What saved her, Morton said, when honoured with a Fellowship at the Bafta awards in February, was the work of Ken Loach.
“When I first saw Ken Loach’s Kes on a huge telly that was wheeled into my classroom, I was forever changed,” she told an audience of her peers.
A six minute animation that conveys the horror of atomic war A Short Vision, made in 1956, is more effective than any drama, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
The real ‘humanitarian threat’ isn’t Cuba but the United States, where poverty, lack of healthcare and illiteracy abound, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
The Carpathia isn’t coming to rescue this government still swimming in the mire, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
SWEE ANG, the founder of Medical Aid for Palestinians, is a big believer in the power of small actions, and she is the living proof it works, writes Linda Pentz Gunter



