The National Union of Journalists has condemned the Government’s rumoured plans to cut the budget of the BBC World Service from next year as part of its comprehensive spending review, which is being revealed tomorrow.

The union said it feared that cuts of between 25-40 per cent of the World Service’s near £300m annual budget were likely to lead to service closures and significant redundancies in the UK and across the globe.

The Guardian reports today that the BBC is facing an overall cut of £556m to its £3.7bn a year licence fee income by being forced to fund the cost of free TV licences for the over-75s. It also reveals that BBC director general, Mark Thompson, is prepared to assume part of the World Service cost as a compromise measure.