Man who climbed London's Big Ben with Palestinian flag tower arrested

A man with a Palestinian flag stands on the Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben, next to Houses of Parliament, in London, Britain March 8, 2025. REUTERS

A man who scaled the lower sections of Big Ben's Elizabeth Tower at London's Palace of Westminster early on Saturday has come down after 16 hours and was subsequently arrested, the British police said on Sunday.

He was waving a Palestinian flag and shouted "free Palestine", according to British media.

"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," a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said.

Emergency crews had gone up in a crane to negotiate with the man, and he came down after earlier telling negotiators he would come down "on his own terms", according to a Sky News report.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police earlier said they were alerted to the incident at Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) at 0724 GMT.

Emergency services closed Westminster Bridge on Saturday morning in response to the incident, and parliamentary tours were also cancelled, Sky News had reported. All roads have been reopened following the man's arrest, the police added.