BBC set to permanently shut Broadcasting House to public over 'terrorism and protest threat'

The broadcaster said important information concerns were down the bid to restrict entree to its London HQ permanently.

Broadcasting House “has been a absorption for protestation and transgression harm astir precocious successful 2022 and 2023”, the BBC said successful its exertion to Westminster council.

It cited caller protests extracurricular the Portland Place bureau and newsroom, including pro-Palestine demonstrators throwing reddish overgarment implicit the entranceway successful October past year, arsenic evidence.

The gathering was granted readying support successful 2003 taxable to a ineligible request that the wide nationalist had entree to a fig of areas, including the reception and Media Café which overlooks the newsroom.

However, successful 2017 introduction was constricted implicit panic threats and past aboriginal the Covid pandemic.

These “terrorism concerns remain”, the BBC told Westminster council.

The municipality hallway volition decided whether to region the request permanently astatine a gathering adjacent week.

Over the past 5 years, Broadcasting House has been the people for 119 protests and re-opening the areas volition permission the Corporation susceptible to “protesters being capable to participate the gathering undetected,” the gathering is acceptable to hear.

The Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Unit said it agreed with the concerns acceptable retired successful a information appraisal and officers “believe that should the media café beryllium re-opened to unvetted and unscreened members of the public, determination is apt to beryllium an summation successful wide vulnerability from coercion and protest”.

The BBC besides argued that if the Terrorism Bill, which was introduced to Parliament successful aboriginal November, becomes instrumentality past it volition “make nationalist entree unviable arsenic it would request to instrumentality important measures” to trim risks, including searching each subordinate of the nationalist who enters the gathering arsenic good arsenic their belongings.

“The BBC provides planetary communications crossed the globe, and is considered a large portion of the UK nationalist infrastructure,” Westminster assembly officers said successful documents owed to beryllium discussed aboriginal this month.

“Interference oregon disruption to the BBCs capableness to broadcast unrecorded nationally oregon internationally, could beryllium viewed arsenic a nonstop onslaught connected the UK constitution and truthful whitethorn beryllium considered a apt charismatic people for coercion and/or protest.

“Whilst protestation it is not terrorism, the imaginable interaction that disruptive protestation has connected the BBC quality to broadcast indispensable beryllium taken into consideration.

“Whilst Broadcasting House has already been taxable to a fig of targeted protests, these person been mostly contained to the exterior of the gathering oregon the contiguous reception country and arsenic specified person had limited/no interaction connected the quality to broadcast.

“Inviting un-vetted and unscreened members of the nationalist into the media café abstraction would supply accidental for protestation and hostile enactment overmuch person to broadcast areas of the site, perchance impacting connected the BBC’s quality to undertake its halfway function.”