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

Negotiators at Westminster have been trying to persuade a man to come down after he scaled the clock tower which houses Big Ben.

The barefoot man has been spoken to by emergency crews and negotiators a number of times during the day but he remains several metres up the Elizabeth Tower on a ledge where he is holding a Palestinian flag in an apparent protest.

The Metropolitan Police said they were called to the scene in central London at 7.24am on Saturday.

Photographs have shown 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.

A large red stain which appears to be blood can be seen on the side of the tower around the climber’s feet.

Following the security breach at Parliament, a fire engine later raised an aerial ladder platform to the same height as the man’s position.

Three people standing on the platform have been talking to the man, who is several feet away.

Climber shares videos on social media

The climber has been sharing videos on Instagram from his viewpoint on the tower.

He tells negotiators he will come down “on his own terms”.

In the footage, negotiators 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.”

Also in a video, a woman in plain clothes says: “At some point you have to come down. How long do you think you are going to be there? How long do you think you are able to be there?”

Her voice is then barely audible as she appears to say “your message was to say ‘Free Palestine'” before she encourages him to come down.

In one of the other videos, the man seems to suggest he plans to stay on the ledge for three and a half days.

The whole of Westminster Bridge was closed later in the morning as emergency services responded to the incident.

And parliamentary tours on Saturday were cancelled.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “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.”

Bridge Street, which is at the north end of Westminster Bridge, has been closed to allow emergency services to deal with the incident.

At least nine emergency service vehicles have lined the street in central London as crowds look on from beyond a police cordon.

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.”

It comes as dozens of people gathered for a pro-Palestinian protest in London.

The crowd assembled on the corner of Parliament Square and appeared to be showing support for the man who climbed up Big Ben.

Trump’s Turnberry golf course vandalised

The protest in Westminster comes as the Palestine Action group said it had sprayed “Gaza is not for sale” on Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Scotland.

Sharing an image of the vandalism on Saturday morning, the group wrote on X: “Whilst Trump attempts to treat Gaza as his own property, he should know his own property is within reach.”

The Turnberry protest comes after the American president claimed the US will “take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too”.