Letter: BBC education

From Mr J. K. Anand

Sir: I have been listening to the BBC World Service and its predecessors for more than 50 years, starting in India during the war. Even now I listen to the World Service during Radio 4's hours of silence and when I am abroad, wherever I can. In my view, the World Service provides better news and views than any other radio/TV that I have encountered and is indeed superior to the British newspapers.

If cuts must be made in the Foreign Office budget, so be it ("The Empire talks back", 17 January). But the World Service should be ring-fenced. Britons in Britain will become better-educated in world affairs if they tune in to the World Service.

Yours truly,

J. K. Anand

Peterborough,

Cambridgeshire

17 January