The British government was warned today that it risked hitting Britain's reputation across the world after funding cuts were blamed for the loss of 650 jobs and the closure of five language services at the BBC World Service.

YOUR anti-Irish language editorial (January 21) needs to be addressed. The EU is founded on the cornerstone of diversity, in particular linguistic diversity. The number of EU official languages has grown from four in 1958 to 23 today. This involves not only the right to speak one’s official language in parliament, but also to access European laws and services in one’s official language of choice.

At the end of a fractious week in the media industry, ITV is still rudderless, BSkyB almost £1bn (€1.47bn) poorer and NTL in a state of limbo.