FORMER Question Time host David Dimbleby has revealed he was the target of a kidnapping plot when he hosted the BBC show.
He said protesters tried to snatch him up to stop the show from airing when Nick Griffin, then leader of the far-right British National Party, was due to appear.
Dimbleby said protesters tried to rip him off when then-BNP leader Nick Griffin was asked to appear[/caption]
The decision to invite Griffin to the current affairs debate program in 2009 had sparked mass public and political debate.
David, who has presented the show for 25 years, says: “The TV center was supposed to be secure, with gates at each entrance and BBC passes required to enter.
“It had survived most incursion attempts, or disruption of its production, for over 40 years.
“Not, however, the night Nick Griffin appeared.
“It had been agreed with the police that the demonstrators would be kept on the sidewalk in front of the front of the Television Centre, with the main road between them and the building.
“Then for some reason, never explained, the police didn’t do their job.
“The protesters took over the road and forced their way through the gates of the TV center itself.”
Journalist David, 84 – who last hosted his latest edition of the current affairs talk show in 2018 – wrote about the incident in his book, Keep Talking.
He recalls: “We were busy working on the final details of the program in an office located in one of the circular corridors of the center when we heard a shout: ‘Lock your doors. Stay where you are,” followed by the sound of feet scurrying down the hallway outside and shouts of “Where is he?
“The demonstrators had broken through our fortifications.
“Somehow a combination of the police and the BBC’s own security managed to corner and evict the protesters.
“I assumed at the time that they were looking for Nick Griffin, but I was later told that their objective was to find me and kidnap me so the program could not continue.”
