BBC World Service

I am extremely angry tonight at the announcement that more than 600 staff at the BBC World Service are to be made redundant (that's a quarter of its workforce), and five of its language services shut down. This follows a 16% cut in its budget, as supplied by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. I have gone so far as to describe this as state-sponsored vandalism, which takes no account of the invaluable work that the BBC WS does around the world.

I have been a supporter of the BBC WS since the early 1980s, and although I do not listen to the station at the moment, that does not diminish my appreciation of its work. In many areas of the world, its output is often the only source of reliable information, particularly before the advent of the Internet. But as anyone with a modicum of common sense will realise, you have to be careful which sources to use on the Net.
I fully support any (lawful) action taken to reverse these cuts, and do hope that a reversal will take place.