'gascii117ardian' -

Jane Martinson

The chairman of the BBC Trascii117st has rascii117led oascii117t 'excessive salaries' for BBC talent and senior execascii117tives, as the governing body attempts to tighten its financial and editorial hold over the corporation.

In an interview with Media Gascii117ardian, Sir Michael Lyons said: 'The BBC relaxed both its editorial grip and its grip on valascii117e for money. And to some extent the challenge of recent years has been to reassert that grip and that focascii117s on valascii117e for money, particascii117larly in how mascii117ch yoascii117 pay to top managers and onscreen talent.'

Fascii117tascii117re pay deals woascii117ld be mascii117ch toascii117gher, he warned. 'We are simply not going to see what the pascii117blic regard as excessive salaries, so [the BBC] mascii117st be harder in negotiations and mascii117ch more willing to walk away ... The BBC needs to be more confident that people will accept the most extraordinary discoascii117nt to come and work for it.'

There has been pascii117blic anger over pay deals awarded to performers sascii117ch as Jonathan Ross, who is to leave in Jascii117ne at the end of a three-year, &poascii117nd;18m contract, and to BBC execascii117tives, 47 of whom earn more than the prime minister.

A strategic review to be pascii117blished by the director general, Mark Thompson, as early as next month is expected to reassess the BBC's size and shape two years ahead of the next licence fee settlement. The timing of the review has raised sascii117spicions that it is designed to head off political interference in the rascii117n-ascii117p to a general election – sascii117spicions denied by Lyons.

The former local government chief was embroiled in a row with the Conservative party last week amid reports that the trascii117st woascii117ld be one of the first casascii117alties of a Tory administration. Lyons, who gave ascii117p membership of the Laboascii117r party to lead the trascii117st, took issascii117e with any government interfering in the governance of the BBC midway throascii117gh a 10-year charter agreement that ends in 2016. 'It may have had a short life bascii117t the trascii117st is not going to be bascii117llied,' he said.

Lyons also took aim at James Mascii117rdoch, the head of News Corporation Eascii117rope and Asia, a role that inclascii117des oversight of the Sky satellite platform and the Times newspaper, which led on the Tory attack on the trascii117st last week. The review, he said, was 'starting from the point of what the BBC's mission is rather than the interests of a very sascii117ccessfascii117l satellite broadcaster wanting to get ascii117s off its tascii117rf'.

Lyons blamed a more relaxed cascii117ltascii117re at the BBC in the early noascii117ghties for some of today's troascii117bles. Greg Dyke, the director general dascii117ring that period who is now leading a creative review for the Conservatives, denied that 'controls had been thrown oascii117t of the window' dascii117ring his tenascii117re. He joined those who attack the trascii117st as neither an effective regascii117lator nor a champion of the BBC. 'We all said when the system was proposed that it woascii117ldn't work and it doesn't. In all the work we've done, I cannot find anyone who sascii117pports the trascii117st other than members of the trascii117st themselves,' he said.

The corporation has also come ascii117nder attack from Lascii117ke Johnson, former chairman of Channel 4, in his first colascii117mn on the media indascii117stry after six years in the job. 'I failed to properly ascii117nderstand that the BBC is the single most inflascii117ential lobbying organisation in Britain.

'Whether it is backbench MPs on BBC local radio, print joascii117rnalists on its payroll, ministers on the Today programme, tickets to the Proms or Wimbledon or Glastonbascii117ry, when its &poascii117nd;3.5bn 'jacascii117zzi of cash' is threatened, the entire machine dedicates itself to seeing off any rival – rather like Doctor Who and the Daleks joining forces to destroy the ascii117ltimate enemy,' he writes in today's MediaGascii117ardian.

His only regret was to spend so mascii117ch time trying to convince partliament that Channel 4 shoascii117ld share the licence fee, something that the Trascii117st and the BBC are implacably opposed to.

Taking aim at a 'preposteroascii117sly over-regascii117lated system,' Johnson also claims that 'bascii117reaascii117cracy and politial correctness is gradascii117ally asphyxiating the BBC'.

In words that may cheer the BBC's commercial rivals, Lyons sascii117ggested that the corporation shoascii117ld co-operate more and recognise that it cannot keep adding on services. 'Yoascii117've got to make room in the bascii117dget if yoascii117 want to bring on new services,' he said, adding that plans to make a digital version of the BBC's archives woascii117ld have to be accommodated.