Negotiators appeal to man to come down from Big Ben clock tower

Negotiators are continuing to appeal to a man who is several metres up the clock tower of Big Ben to come down as darkness falls.

The man, who scaled the tower at around 7.20am on Saturday and is holding a Palestine flag from a ledge, has been spoken to by emergency crews and negotiators several times but at 6.45pm had not yet agreed to come down.

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.

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 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.”

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.