Scathing attack on BBC chief

Michael Grade, outgoing chief executive of Channel 4, made a scathing attack on John Birt's BBC at an emotional farewell to the television industry last night.

At a Royal Television Society dinner in London, he said: "I see things at the BBC getting worse not better. Another five year plan, more pain, more misery." He asked "Is anyone happy at the BBC?" and advised his replacement at Channel 4, Michael Jackson, formerly of the BBC, to forget the "management tosh" he was taught at the corporation.