A man was pictured this morning scaling the almost 100 metre Elizabeth Tower with a flag and was heard saying “I’m not going anywhere”
Westminster’s been thrown into chaos this morning as a bloke decided to scale Big Ben with no shoes on. The fella was spotted climbing the towering Elizabeth Tower, brandishing a Palestinian flag and gripping onto the building’s edge.
During a live video from his own point of view while he was going up, he declared: “I’m not going anywhere. Free, free Palestine”. He made his move at 7.30am Saturday morning.
On his Instagram, the man popped on some videos where he’s heard saying: “Democracy is dead. We’re being imprisoned for peaceful protest, civil disobedience. We’re seeing climate activists receiving four to five years in prison. Now Palestine activists are being imprisoned for doing what our government should be doing, and stopping arms to the terrorist state of Israel.”
In another clip, you can see the Fire Brigade trying to talk him down using a megaphone from a crane. But our high-climbing protester shoots back: “I can’t hear a word you’re saying.”
He even takes a moment to admire the weather, saying: “What a beautiful day it is. Clear skies. Warm weather. Perfect day for it.”
When the crane gets a bit too close for comfort, he warns: “Don’t come any closer.”
An onlooker has shared a video on X capturing a swarm of emergency service vehicles outside the iconic Palace of Westminster in central London. The caption said: “Good morning from Westminster Bridge where just before 8am a barefoot man with a Palestine flag climbed up part of the Elizabeth Tower. The road is closed.”
A spokesperson for the Met Police said: “At 07:24hrs on Saturday, 8 March 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.”
They added: “Bridge Street, which is at the north end of Westminster Bridge, is closed to allow the emergency services to deal with the incident.”
Everything is now back to normal.