It’s time to defund the British Council

It received £1.20 billion from taxpayers between 2020-24

Above: A film submitted as part of the British Council’s “Five Films for Freedom” programme

Over the last few years I have been keeping a beady eye on the activities of the British Council, which taxpayers were charged £1.20 billion for between 2020-24.

The charity says it “creates friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries.” It is the perfect example of what Establishment types call “soft power”; an institution that apparently reinforces what a great country the UK is and strengthens its global ties. British Council employees have even been awarded MBEs “for services to UK Soft Power”.

In reality, the British Council is a woke horror-show, as shown in its recent grant scheme only applicable to organisations that are “diverse-led and/or working with underrepresented voices and either completely new to international work or just starting to work beyond the UK.”


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