Our Friends in the East

The British Council's exhibition - The Eagle & The Lion: 900 years of Polish-British Relations - is touring Poland. This month it finishes its stint in Warsaw and moves on to Lodz. It was born as a celebration of friendships and alliances and was timed to coincide with the Queen's visit to Poland in March.

But what is less high profile is the major cutback in funds to the British Council which might have put this 100,000[pounds] exhibition at risk had the cuts been announced earlier. They threaten the services of the Council in Poland, including the main centre in Warsaw - active for more than fifty years - which has recently been refurbished, and a dozen or so libraries and information centres around the country.