Reducing budget would involve closing parts of institution promoting UK soft power abroad, leaving gap for Russia to push propaganda
Hours before Rachel Reeves stood up to deliver her budget last year, government officials were still in tense negotiations with bosses at the BBC over how much the World Service would be given.
The amount they were haggling over was relatively small – just £5.5m out of a total budget of £400m. But BBC chiefs warned the government that if the cuts were imposed on them, they would have to close several language stations in parts of the world where the Russians already hold influence. Doing so would be a gift to Moscow, they added.
The argument worked, and the BBC got the extra cash it was asking for. But executives at the corporation worry that their appeal to Britain’s soft power might not prove so effective this time, especially in light of the government’s recent cuts to the aid budget.
“The government is asking the World Service to model cuts that would definitely mean having to close important parts of the service,” said one person familiar with the negotiations. “The BBC’s lobbying worked last time, but this round is proving harder.”
