Scrap BBC board of governors says Dyke

Greg Dyke has fired yet another broadside against his former employer the BBC, calling on its board of governors to be scrapped.

The ousted director-general has already slammed the governing body as "silly b******s" for the corporation's apologetic response to the Hutton report and for supporting both his departure and that of chairman Gavyn Davies.

He told guests at a Royal Television Society dinner last night that the BBC governance system is "unsustainable".

Mr Dyke, 57, went on: "You can't run one of the biggest and most powerful media organisations in the world with a governance system more suited to a small charity - where a range of the great and good sit there because they fill a criteria of being Welsh, or Scottish, or black, or Asian, a trade unionist, a businessman - and not because they have the relevant skills and experience."

He also attacked the governors for "perpetuating the myth" that their existence is vital to the Corporation's independence. That independence had not been sustained by the governors, but rather by the "culture and ethos within the Corporation".

His comments echoed Liberal Democrat calls this week, for the abolition of the governors in favour of a board of independent regulators.

Mr Dyke said that for BBC governors to have dual responsibility - for the Corporation's management and accountability - "is increasingly unworkable".

He added: "It's damaging to morale of staff when the governors criticise certain aspects of the BBC in their role as regulator. And it leaves the management unable to defend their position when they are publicly criticised."

He called for a new "OfBBC" regulator and said addressing the BBC's "London and South-East bias" should be written into the BBC's new charter, currently under review.