MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK moves to reshape the BBC.

Britain's BBC will be forced to scrap a 77-year tradition of self-regulation under a new government proposal prompted by criticism of its journalism in the run-up to the Iraq war.

British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell yesterday issued the draft proposal to abolish the BBC board of governors and replace it with an independent trust that will oversee the world's biggest public broadcaster and a separate executive board focused on delivering BBC services.

The board was singled out for criticism in an official report delivered by British judge Lord Hutton which centred on one reporter's allegation that the government had "sexed up" evidence of Iraqi weapons programmes to justify its participation in the US-led invasion of Iraq.

The report's release prompted BBC Director-General Greg Dyke and Chairman Gavyn Davies to resign.

"The current model of governance is unsustainable. ... The BBC governors, with their dual role of managing the BBC, but also holding it to account, will be replaced by two bodies, each with a clearly defined role," Jowell told Parliament.

An external BBC Trust, headed by current board of governors chairman Michael Grade, "will be the custodian of the BBC's purposes, the licence fee and the public interest," she said. A separate executive board "will be accountable to the Trust for the delivery of the BBC's services."