Barry Morgan seeks meeting with Deputy Prime MinisterWelsh language campaigners have welcomed a letter from the Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg expressing his concerns about TV channel S4C. The Archbishop's letter states:"As the Archbishop of Wales, I am writing to ask whether you and the Liberal Democrats would consider voting in favour of withdrawing the clauses concerning S4C from the Public Bodies Bill which will come before Parliament in the near future."Before any decision is made concerning the future of S4C, the Welsh language television channel, a thorough and wide ranging review needs to be held into its future. The leaders of the four main political parties in Wales are agreed on this and it is important that their views are taken into account... If the clauses dealing with S4C are not removed from the Public Bodies Bill, the Channel will lose its independence and 40% of its funding and there will be no certainty about how the Channel will be funded after 2015. It will, therefore, be impossible to plan for the future of Welsh language broadcasting, if indeed there will be a future. When S4C was first established, it was protected by legislation from political interference. With the passing of the Public Bodies Bill, it will have lost that protection."I therefore wonder whether it might be possible for you to meet a deputation from Wales ... to discuss this important matter."Menna Machreth, Cymdeithas yr Iaith broadcasting spokesperson welcomed the news:"The opposition to the threats to S4C is growing daily. The Archbishop's letter shows there's a strong consensus in Welsh civil society; a consensus opposing the joint plan between the Government and the BBC in London for S4C. A plan which means cutting the grant to the channel by 94% - a lot more than any other department of Government - and letting the BBC take the channel over. A plan which puts the future of the world's only Welsh language TV channel in doubt, and is a direct threat to the future of the language as well. We are very pleased that the Archbishop is willing to raise questions about these foolish plans."It seems that [UK Culture Secretary] Jeremy Hunt and [BBC Director General] Mark Thompson are the only people left in Britain which still think that merging S4C with the BBC is a good idea. By now, the proposals have been criticised by the leaders of the four main parties in Wales, the Welsh Affairs Select Committee, the Westminster Culture Committee, tens of unions and language groups, along with tens of thousands of people who have signed petitions, attended rallies and written to politicians. It's clear that BBC managers in London and the Government are politically isolated, all their plans are now in a state of crisis.""Tens of language groups and unions have tried to meet Jeremy Hunt and he's completely ignored us. We hope that Nick Clegg will be far more polite and listen to the united opinion of people here in Wales."