Sir John Tusa, former managing director of the BBC World Service, was notable by his absence at a service of thanksgiving to mark the 80th anniversary of the World Service, held at St Martin-in-the-Fields yesterday.
Broadcast live around the world, the service included an address by Lord Patten, chairman of the BBC Trust, a self-confessed fan of the WS, and a sermon by Dr Rowan Williams, one of the last he will deliver before he retires as Archbishop of Canterbury.
Many Bush House veterans attending noted the irony of some words in a prayer — “make us a rainbow people full of the energy of music and laughter and poetry and life” — when the “rich mix” of arts, comedy, drama and music programmes are disappearing because of savage cuts being made to World Service schedules.
They were also sceptical about the validity of Lord Patten’s remark that “people of the world know they can rely on the World Service in a crisis” when so many short-wave transmitters have been shut down.
