Negotiators and emergency crews at Parliament as barefoot man holding Palestinian flag climbs up Big Ben

By Josef Al Shemary

Negotiators and emergency crews have assembled in Parliament and the area around Big Ben's Elizabeth Tower is closed after a man holding a Palestinian flag has climbed up the famous landmark.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Negotiators are continuing to appeal to the man, who is several metres up the clock tower of Big Ben, to come down after he climbed up the tower around 7.20 am on Saturday.

The man is holding a Palestine flag from a ledge, and has been spoken to by emergency crews and negotiators several times but at 6.45pm had not yet agreed to come down.

Read more: Trump claims Putin 'holds all the cards' as he says Russia is 'easier to deal with' than Ukraine

In a video posted on Instagram, he tells negotiators he will come down "on his own terms".

In the footage, negotiators on an aerial ladder platform appear to raise concerns about an injury to his foot, saying there is "quite a lot of blood" and that his clothes are not warm enough as temperatures drop after sunset.

But the man insists he is safe and says: "I will come down on my own terms, I have said this. But right now I am saying I am safe.

"If you come towards me you are putting me in danger and I will climb higher."

In videos posted on social media earlier on Saturday, the man climbed over a fence surrounding the Houses of Parliament without any security guards approaching him.

A parliamentary spokesperson 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.

Read more: LBC’s Online Safety Day Monday 10th March, 7am to midnight

"As a result of this incident, tours of the parliamentary estate today have unfortunately had to be cancelled."

Westminster Bridge and Bridge Street remain closed, but crowds who lined the edges of the cordons earlier have thinned.

London bus routes 3, 11, 148, C10 and 159 are still on diversion.

On Saturday morning, a Met Police spokesperson said: "At 7.24am on Saturday March 8 officers were alerted to a man climbing up the Elizabeth Tower at the Houses of Parliament.

"Officers are at the scene working to bring the incident to a safe conclusion. They are being assisted by the London Fire Brigade and the London Ambulance Service."

Members of London Ambulance Service's hazardous area response team were at the scene wearing green helmets.

The specialist team is trained to provide life-saving medical care in complex and challenging environments.

In the afternoon, shouts of "Free Palestine" and "You are a hero" could be heard from a small group of supporters behind the police cordon at Victoria Embankment.

Uniformed officers continue to guard the cordon, which includes the Houses of Parliament and Parliament Square.

In 2019, an Extinction Rebellion activist wearing a blond wig was arrested after climbing the scaffolding surrounding the clock tower.

Tree surgeon Ben Atkinson climbed the scaffolding surrounding Big Ben dressed as Boris Johnson - complete with a blond wig, shirt, jacket and tie - and was up Elizabeth Tower for around three and a half hours on October 18 2019, before police managed to get him to come down.