Language campaigners will debate an urgent call for people to refuse to pay their TV licence from December over government plans for S4C, which they claim will be the 'beginning of the end for Welsh language broadcasting'.The motion, which will be debated in Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language Society)'s annual general meeting in Aberystwyth next weekend (Saturday 30th October), calls on people to refuse to pay their television licences from the 1st December onwards. Their aim is to change the UK Government's decision to merge S4C with the BBC, which they say would 'kill the channel's independence'.Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg campaigned to establish S4C in the 1970s, a spokesperson said that "non-violent direct action is a last resort in any campaign by the organisation."Rhys Llwyd, Vice Chair of language campaign group Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg said:"The Government has put Welsh language broadcasting on the path to destruction. By merging the BBC and S4C on top of the savage cuts, it's inevitable that the channel will disappear. Ordinary people like us who want Welsh language programmes have no choice but to campaign as hard as possible against this undemocratic decision. If there is no promise to change this stupid idea, people in Wales should not pay the institution complicit in destroying the language.""If the plans and cuts go ahead, it will be the beginning of the end for S4C. It's obvious the Westminster Government hasn't got a clue - they made a last minute decision to do this. If we don't campaign against the S4C cuts along with the other government plans which are going to divide communities across Wales, it will reflect badly on us all."

"We call for financial and editorial independence for S4C by keeping the current funding formula . We acknowledge the channel has its faults, and we need a new S4C, but that won't be possible under these plans. We will be discussing an urgent motion on the channel's future on 30th October in Aberystwyth and are encouraging people to come to our rally on 6th November in Cardiff."Rhys Llwyd added:"The struggle to establish the channel was long and costly. The Welsh Language Society and its supporters managed to establish the need for a separate channel for Welsh language programming, and then managed to create a broad consensus in Wales for that cause. Many members of the Society were imprisoned - for a range of periods from a few days up to 2 or 3 years, and the cost has been very high for many."Cymdeithas officials will meet David Jones MP (Wales Office Minister) on 1st November to discuss the channel's future.