British Council’s £197m debt should mostly be written off, MPs say

Commons report calls on Foreign Office to bail out soft-power flagship reeling from job cuts and asset salesMinisters should explore writing off a crippling £197m loan to the British Council by converting as much of it as possible into “a grant or similar”, MPs have said.The Commons public accounts committee said the government lacked a “positive vision” for the council, whose soft power value to the UK is put at £1bn a year. The MPs called on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to set out what more it could do to support the council and its work. Continue