John Baron MP raises British Council funding

MP says Council’s work must not be jeopardised

At Foreign & Commonwealth Office Questions in the House of Commons yesterday, John Baron MP raised reductions in funding to the British Council with the Government. According to present plans, the Government grant to the Council to fund its activities in developed countries will shortly cease altogether.

In the Chamber, John asked,

“Given the importance of the British Council to our soft power, what are the implications of possible cuts to non-overseas development aid funding for the Council’s work, and how might they affect the Government’s plans for a global Britain?”

The Minister, Rt Hon Mark Field MP, responded that it had been agreed to end the grant for activities in developed countries in return for an increase in funding for work in developing countries. In addition, the Council will use funds generated from its commercial income to support work in developed countries.

Afterwards, John said,

“The British Council is one of our great soft power institutions, and for over 80 years has done a superb job of promoting Britain, British culture, education and our language in other countries. It is the cultural institute against which all others are judged, and the value in its continuing success must not be lost for the sake of saving relatively small sums – closing offices in Europe and cosmopolitan cities such as New York is not the way forward.”