Man with Palestinian flag comes down from Big Ben tower

A man who climbed up Big Ben's Elizabeth Tower carrying a Palestinian flag has been brought down after more than 16 hours.

The barefoot man had made his way on to a ledge several metres up the tower at the Palace of Westminster on Saturday morning.

He had been heard telling negotiators he would come down on his "own terms".

Emergency crews went up in a crane to negotiate with him, and the intruder eventually came down in the cherry picker after Big Ben struck midnight.

In a video posted on Instagram on Saturday evening, he could be heard saying: "If you come towards me you are putting me in danger and I will climb higher."

He had filmed his climb and said that he was protesting against "police repression and state violence".

The Met Police says officers were called to the tower at 07:24 GMT. The incident led to the closure of Westminster Bridge and the cancellation of Parliament tours.

At least nine emergency service vehicles lined Bridge Street in central London as crowds looked on from beyond a police cordon.

Three emergency personnel were lifted several metres up on a fire brigade aerial ladder platform at around 10:00 GMT, with one person using a megaphone to speak to the man on the ledge.

Negotiations then continued throughout the day and into the night.

The incident began when the man got into the grounds of Parliament, walked up some steps, quickly climbed onto a railing, and up the side of Elizabeth Tower.

At one point he took his shoes off to enable him to climb higher to a ledge. He injured his feet, and patches of blood could be seen on the stonework of the tower.

The man was spotted within minutes by police on the ground, who asked if he was able to get down safely.

Photographs throughout the day showed him sitting on the ledge with the flag and wrapped a traditional Palestinian keffiyeh scarf around the decorative stonework on the tower.

"Shouts of "Free Palestine" and "You Are A Hero" could be heard from a small group of supporters who were pinned behind the police cordon at Victoria Embankment.

They appeared to be showing support for the man who had scaled Elizabeth Tower.

Officers imposed a condition on protest activity near Parliament Square to prevent serious disruption, the Met said.

It meant the pro-Palestinian protesters were ordered to move from Bridge Street to nearby Richmond Terrace.

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

It is understood one exit of Westminster Tube station was also closed, but there was no disruption to Tube services, and passengers could use other exits.

Tours of the Parliamentary Estate were also cancelled as emergency services responded to the incident.

The parliamentary spokesperson said: "Parliament takes security extremely seriously, however, we do not comment on the specifics of our security measures or mitigations."

Separately, dozens of protesters began a march near the Houses of Parliament after a planned rally near the BBC's headquarters was blocked by police.

A spokesman for London Fire Brigade (LFB) said crews from Lambeth, Chelsea, Soho and Islington fire stations were responding to the incident alongside the police.

The London Ambulance sent an ambulance crew, an incident response officer, and members of its hazardous area response team (HART) to the scene.

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