A pro-Palestine protester has been arrested after spending more than 16 hours perched on top of the clock tower of Big Ben. The man climbed up the Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben, and tied a Palestinian flag at the top yesterday (Saturday, March 8).
Fire crews used a cherry picker to reach the height of the protester to allow negotiators to talk to the man. Images from the scene show the man being lifted to the ground in a cherry picker.
At the time, a spokesperson for the Met Police said: “At 7:24am on Saturday, March 8, officers were alerted to a man climbing 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.”
During the early hours of this morning (March 9) Westminster Police said the man was arrested once he reached the ground. A statement from the force said: “The man has now been arrested.
“This has been a protracted incident due to the specifics of where the man was located and the need to ensure the safety of our officers, the individual and the wider public.
“We worked with other agencies including the London Fire Brigade and deployed specialist officers to bring this incident to a close as quickly as possible whilst minimising risk to life.
“We have been in close liaison with the Parliamentary Estate throughout and all roads have been reopened.”
The police have been praised for their work following the incident. Senior minister Pat Mcfadden said the “police have done their job” after the man eventually came down and was arrested.
When asked about the incident on Saturday, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “ I think the person’s now down. I understand he’s been arrested.
“It’s an important national building, of course we want to see it protected, but I think the police have done their job and the person’s down, and he’s been arrested.”
Asked about whether there is in general a nervousness about threats to MPs, Mr McFadden added: “Yeah, of course. In the years that I’ve been in Parliament, two MPs have been killed, one has been fortunate to escape with his life.
“So, I think it’s something that we’re all aware of. We have a very open democracy in this country, where MPs walk around mostly without physical police protection in their constituencies, the advice surgery is still something that we do and we like doing, and we cherish that face-to-face content with constituents, as well as other similar things, like coffee mornings that I do regularly.
“So, it’s really important that we keep that and that MPs are available to the public.”