A man who climbed up the tower housing Big Ben in an apparent protest has now come down.
The barefoot man spent most of the day on a ledge several metres up the Elizabeth Tower holding a Palestinian flag at the Palace of Westminster in central London.
During Saturday, negotiators and emergency crews on a cherry picker had been talking to the man who was several feet away, appealing for him to come down.
He earlier told negotiators he would come down “on his own terms”.
The Metropolitan Police said they were called to the scene in central London at 7.24am on Saturday.
Photographs showed the man sat on the ledge with the flag and a keffiyeh, a headdress worn by men in the Middle East, wrapped around the decorative stonework on the tower.
He shared a number of videos on Instagram during his 16-and-a-half-hours on the tower, suggesting in one that he planned to stay there for three and a half days.
Man arrested after 16-year-old boy shot dead near south London tube station
ULEZ lowers air pollution most in London boroughs that opposed it, data reveals
WWII bomb defused after forcing rail shutdown and Eurostar chaos in London and Paris
A large red stain which appeared to be blood could be seen on the side of the tower around the climber’s feet.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
All of Westminster Bridge was closed on Saturday morning as emergency services responded to the incident. Parliamentary tours were also cancelled.
Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty said on X there needs to be an explanation about how the man got into the parliamentary estate.
He said: “Every day in Parliament I see dozens of armed police officers patrolling Portcullis House and the parliamentary estate. Where were they today?
“On Monday there needs to be a full explanation to MPs and staff as to how this protester was able to evade security so easily.”
A parliamentary spokesperson earlier said: “We are aware of an incident on the Parliamentary Estate this morning, which is being handled by the Metropolitan Police, assisted by the London Fire Brigade and the London Ambulance Service.
“Parliament takes security extremely seriously, however we do not comment on the specifics of our security measures or mitigations. As a result of this incident, tours of the Parliamentary Estate today have unfortunately had to be cancelled.”
