“It is wrong if nearly every time we hear a black or Asian actor portraying their lives they are actually speaking the words of someone who has never experienced their reality. And to effectively silence disabled people from telling their own truth on film or TV is close to criminal and will not help wider society understand their reality.”

British comedian, actor, presenter and writer

Sir Lenworth George Henry is a British comedian, actor, presenter and writer. Born in 1958, he rose to prominence in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a stand-up comedian and impressionist, and became a familiar face on Tiswas and Three of a Kind. In 1984, he launched The Lenny Henry Show, which continued until 2005 and moved between sketch comedy and sitcom. He was a leading Black British comedian of his era, and much of his work drew on, celebrated and gently parodied his African-Caribbean background.