Local campaigners have challenged Ceredigion MP Mark Williams to sign a pledge not to vote for cuts to S4C’s budget.

According to newspaper reports, the Tory-Liberal Democrat government in London is planning to cut between 25% a 40% off the budget of the only television channel available in the Welsh language. The UK government is not seeking similar cuts to the funding of any other broadcasters.

With several independent television companies in Ceredigion, such as Wes Glei in Felinfach and the Pixel Foundary and Boomerang in Aberystwyth, highly valued jobs could be lost to the county. In Wales as a whole, 22,000 and 30,000 jobs in Wales are dependent on the creative industries, of which S4C is a major part, contributing up to £500 million to our economic output.

In a letter to Ceredigion MP Mark Williams, Siriol Teifi, Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg in Ceredigion says: "Your government’s intention to make savage cuts to S4C's budget is a clear threat to the Welsh language... We, in Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, will not accept cuts to S4C, and note that the broadcaster's budget is protected in law. No MP who votes for changing the law to cut S4C's budget, which is an investment in the language and our communities, deserves the support of friends of the Welsh-language either. We will be campaigning against the government’s budget cuts to S4C. We write in the hope that you, as our local MP will promise not to vote for cuts to S4C, which is such a vital and rare investment in the Welsh language.”

“These proposals are a discriminatory act against the Welsh language, especially at a time when you are making every effort to increase and protect the profits of other broadcasters."

"Your plans are also a clear economic threat: people will lose their jobs in many parts of Wales and it will be a massive blow to the economy in areas where S4C's investment is critical. Many independent television companies in Ceredigion would be directly affected by the cuts and many jobs in the county would be under threat. Creative industries, of which S4C is a major part, represent between 22,000 and 30,000 jobs in Wales and contribute up to £ 500 million to our economic output."