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The ´óÏó´«Ã½ today issued the following statement:

The ´óÏó´«Ã½ welcomes the FAC's strong support for the World Service and the value it brings in promoting British values and providing a widely respected and trusted news service. It is of course for the Government and Parliament to decide on the priorities for public spending.

The cuts being made to the World Service are a consequence of last autumn's Spending Review and the ´óÏó´«Ã½ regrets the scale and pace of cuts that have been necessary. If, in the light of the FAC report, the Government is prepared to re-open aspects of the Spending Review settlement the ´óÏó´«Ã½ will be pleased to engage with them constructively. We look forward to the Government's response to the Committee's recommendations.

The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is committed to the long-term future of the World Service and hopes to reinvest when responsibility for funding transfers to the licence fee in 2014.

´óÏó´«Ã½ Press Office