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The UK government is contemplating breaking up the BBC and stripping the broadcaster
of its independent status, a British newspaper has reported.
The Sunday Times said government papers prepared by senior civil servants
propose to split the BBC into separate regional entities for England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland.
It has also been proposed that the job of ensuring the BBC's impartiality be
taken away from the corporation's board of governors.
The newspaper report comes as the BBC negotiates an uncertain future in the
wake of the Hutton inquiry, which castigated it for misreporting on British
pre-war intelligence on Iraq.
Under fire
The inquiry by Lord Brian Hutton, following the death of weapons expert David
Kelly, concluded last month that the BBC story alleging the government had "sexed
up" intelligence to justify the invasion was unfounded.
According to The Sunday Times, the new plans for the BBC will bring accusations
that "the government is gearing up to exploit the fall-out from the Hutton
inquiry."
Plans being considered include giving a government media watchdog greater control
over the BBC's output, closing BBC outlets which are not considered public services
and even forcing the corporation to share some of its licence fee revenue with
other broadcasters.
Opinion polls after the Hutton inquiry showed that many people considered its
verdict a "whitewash," and that they trusted the BBC far more than
they did Prime Minister Tony Blair and his ministers.
