Jowell praised BBC staff as "some of the most creative and talented people in broadcasting"

LONDON, February 15 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Following a bitter row with the broadcaster, British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government is mulling a plan to up the BBC and scrap its independent status, reported a British daily Sunday, February 15.

Government papers detailing possible changes to the BBC's structure proposed fragmenting it into separate regional entities for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, according to The Sunday Times.

The documents, which the newspaper said had been drawn up by "senior civil servants", suggest stripping the BBC board of governors from ensuring the corporation’s impartiality, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The plans proposes giving the new communications industry watchdog Ofcom a role in regulating the BBC’s activities.

Though funded by public money, the BBC is independently run through a compulsory television license.

The BBC is facing the worst breakdown in relations with the government in its 82-year history.

The heated row followed a BBC radio report in May that accused Blair’s government of deliberately "sexing up" a dossier on Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction to make the case of the U.S.-led invasion of the oil-rich Arab country.

Government weapons expert David Kelly was later identified as the anonymous source of the report.

Kelly's body was found  on July 17, at Harrowdown Hill, five miles from Kelly's home in Southmoor, Oxfordshire.

An inquiry into his death by judge Lord Brian Hutton concluded that the BBC's story had been "unfounded", a verdict which forced the corporation to apologize and its chairman and director general to step down.

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 closing BBC outlets which are not considered "public service" and even forcing the corporation to share some of its license fee revenue with other broadcasters.

Such a move would most likely prompt public concern, given that the BBC is still generally revered in Britain for being impartial and accurate.

Opinion polls after the Hutton inquiry was published showed that many people considered its verdict a "whitewash", and that they trusted the BBC far more than they did Blair and his ministers.

Independence Defended

Earlier Sunday, British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell defended the corporation’s independence, reported the BBC News Online.

In comments on GMTV's Sunday Program, she praised BBC staff as "some of the most creative and talented people in broadcasting."

Her comments came as her department continues its review of the BBC's charter, to expire on 31 December 2006.

She expressed confidence that "by the end of Charter review we will have a strong BBC, I hope a self-confident BBC, but very importantly a BBC that is independent of government."

The charter, produced every 10 years, governs the BBC's activities and sets out its function, its role and how it fulfils its duties.