locale & .bash_profile,.bashrc

[Dave Selby <dave_arahan@yahoo.co.uk>]

I need to set my locale to en_GB so abiword will boot up with its spelling 
checker in GB english mode.

Abiword doc suggests I put

export LANG=en_GB
unset LC_ALL

in either .bashrc or .profile
Typing them on the command line then typing abiword works AOK.

Putting them in .bashrc, .bash_profile does not work LANG is not set up.

I run KDE via KDM graphical loggin, are .bashrc and .bash_profile accessed 
when I log in ??? I suspect KDE bypasses them ?

I tried putting a script in the autostart folder of kde, still no go.

I setup the language via the controll centre, still no go

echo $LANG
gives zip

Im a bit confused, how can I set LANG=en_GB on bootup of KDE as a user ?
Any ideas 
Dave