THE BBC is to be forced to promote British citizenship and a sense of community under a new royal charter to be unveiled this week.

It will redefine the purpose of the BBC, entrusting it with a far wider brief than its established mission to “inform, educate and entertain”.

The BBC’s leading dramatists reacted with dismay to the demand — to sustain citizenship and civil society — which they fear will force the corporation to do the government’s bidding.

Tony Blair, the prime minister, and Gordon Brown, the chancellor, have placed renewal of national identity, citizenship and “respect” at the centre of their political agenda.

Andrew Davies, the BBC’s most prolific and successful drama writer responsible for hits such as Pride and Prejudice, said: “It sounds Stalinist. It looks like the BBC will be doing the government’s propaganda. Part of the BBC’s function should be to challenge the prevailing orthodoxy.”

John Fortune, the satirist, said: “It’s an extraordinary demand. Part of the role of broadcasters is be able to laugh at government and institutions. Producers will now be worried about not rocking the boat.”

Activists gave notice that they will seek to exploit the measure to force the BBC to “clean up” its programming. John Beyer, director of Mediawatch-UK, said: “This means much more than the BBC thinks.

“It’s not just things like impartial news. It is about reflecting good behaviour on the BBC and using good language. The BBC has a moral role. As a lobby group we will now use this phrase as a way to make the BBC act responsibly.”

The government white paper will spell out five other new “purposes” for the BBC. They include promoting education, “stimulating creativity”, “representing the UK, its nations and regions”, and “bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK”.

The white paper, due to be published on Tuesday, also confirms that the BBC will be funded by the licence fee until 2016 and that the board of governors will be replaced by a trust and an executive board. o The Conservatives last night claimed the government was preparing a new TV tax that will force up the licence fee by the equivalent of £9 a year.

Hugo Swire, the shadow culture secretary, claimed the BBC would have to pass on the cost of an estimated £300m in tax that the corporation will have to pay on new digital plans.

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