The battle over the future of the BBC today descended into a slanging match with corporation executives accusing the Secretary of State of having a closed mind on the issue and launching personal attacks on them.

Ben Bradshaw, the new Culture Secretary, used a newspaper article this morning to make a robust attack on the attitude of Mark Thompson, the Director General, and Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust, towards government plans to share licence fee revenue with other broadcasters.

Mr Bradshaw, a former BBC journalist, accused the pair of adopting a “bunker mentality” towards proposals to ringfence 3.5 per cent of the annual £3.6 billion licence fee income to fund regional news broadcasts on ITV, with the possibility of some of the money going to children’s programming.

Today, as the BBC launched its annual report, Sir Michael said: “It is indeed surprising that a Secretary of State who has just started a public consultation exercise should give the impression that he has already made his mind up so firmly.”

He added: “There is room for differences of opinion. This is a debate. The Trust takes a different view from the Secretary of State. We do not always have to have the same view and we do not have to descend into personal criticism.”

The BBC fears that establishing a principle that the licence fee could be shared would lead to it being used as a “back pocket” for other broadcasters and says that it would damage the BBC’s independence.

In comments that were seen as deliberately designed to undermine the corporation on the day it tried to showcase its annual achievements, Mr Bradshaw said: “There are plenty of people within the BBC that do not feel it is a well-led organisation and that is almost for me the most worrying thing.

“And they don’t feel they are being well-led on this issue. It fits into a pattern. It is not the only issue.

“There is almost a feeling of despair among a lot of highly respected BBC professionals.”

Mr Thompson responded that he did not recognise “the idea that there’s disunity in the organisation on the issue of top slicing”.

He added: “I have seen absolutely no evidence that the BBC is anything other than fully united around the notion.”

The row came as figure in the annual report showed that Mr Thompson and Sir Michael received pay rises this year, despite public pronouncements that the corporation is cutting costs.

Mr Thompson received a 2 per cent pay rise taking his salary to £834,000.

Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust, saw his total remuneration rise 30 per cent to £213,000, largely due to the doubling of his taxable benefits — the result of increased travel between his Birmingham home and the BBC’s headquarters, in London.

The total pay of the BBC’s ten most senior executives — who make up the corporation’s executive board — fell by 7 per cent, as a result of a ban on bonuses that Sir Michael announced would not be revoked until economic conditions improved.

Mr Thompson was the only member of the executive board to see a rise in his total pay, as he took no bonus last year but benefited from a corporation-wide 2 per cent increase in salary that came into effect last August.

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