Man holding Palestinian flag who climbed up Big Ben clock tower comes down

A man who climbed up the tower housing Big Ben in an apparent protest has now come down.

The barefoot man spent most of the day on a ledge several metres up the Elizabeth Tower holding a Palestinian flag at the Palace of Westminster in central London.

During Saturday, negotiators and emergency crews on a cherry picker had been talking to the man who was several feet away, appealing for him to come down.

The man shared videos on Instagram from his viewpoint on the tower. He earlier told negotiators he would come down "on his own terms".

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

Photographs during his 16 and a half hour stay on the tower showed the man sitting on the ledge with the flag and a keffiyeh - a headdress worn by men in the Middle East - wrapped around decorative stonework.

A large red stain which appeared to be blood could be seen on the side of the tower around the climber's feet.

He shared a number of videos on Instagram during his time on the tower, suggesting in one that he planned to stay there for three and a half days.

All of Westminster Bridge was closed on Saturday morning as emergency services responded to the incident. Parliamentary tours were also cancelled.

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