BBC ready to film BNP debate at secret site

BBC chiefs have drafted emergency plans to shift the venue for Question Time if protests against BNP leader Nick Griffin turn violent.

The Standard has learned that the Corporation has a contingency scheme to move the event from TV Centre in Shepherd's Bush to a secret location.

Anti-racist and anti-fascist groups are threatening demonstrations at the Wood Lane building, where tomorrow's Question Time is due to be recorded.

There are several entrances to TV Centre but planners fear that the "nightmare" scenario is a level of disorder that makes it impossible to go ahead with the programme.

If the safety of any of the guests or the audience is at risk, the entire programme will be moved to another location, one insider said. A decision would have to be made well before the programme's scheduled recording at about 7pm.

Police have told the BBC that they will take charge of security in public areas outside TV Centre but responsibility will pass to the Corporation once all those involved are on-site.

The desperate attempts to ensure the smooth running of the programme came as an academic warned that the BNP could see a huge boost in public support after Mr Griffin's appearance.

Dr Jim Shields, associate professor in French Studies at the University of Warwick, pointed out that the popularity of far-Right French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen soared virtually overnight after he appeared on the French equivalent of Question Time in 1984. He said: "The programme attracted a lot of opposition and large viewing figures.

In his autobiography, Le Pen would point to that TV programme as the start of his political rise, calling it the hour that changed everything'."

The BBC has given Question Time presenter David Dimbleby free rein to quiz Mr Griffin on contentious issues, building on the audience's questions.