The English speaking human voice is the most powerful weapon we have

I heard on the radio this morning that the Foreign Office is more powerful than the armed forces and all the aid agencies put together.

They work with the carrot instead of the stick and this policy of diplomacy and building rapport is growing in strength these days, even in war torn and fairly lawless parts of the world.

Unfortunately the Foreign Office is cutting the World Service budget and the BBC has reacted by announcing 650 (out of 2,000) job cuts.

What could be more valuable than an English speaking platform that is known, respected and trusted by 6 billion people? How many listeners will we lose when they withdraw five specific languages and the short wave broadcasting? How will our relationship with the world change?

The BBC World Service is the most powerful tool of influence that Britain has and it is probably the only reason we retain any real influence in the world today.

The sound of the English speaking human voice is our ticket to the future, we need to keep exporting it and if we play our cards right, we may be able to tax everyone else for speaking "our language" ;-)