Man who climbed up Big Ben’s Elizabeth Tower charged

A man has been charged after climbing up the tower of Big Ben, the Metropolitan Police said.

Daniel Day, 29, of Palmerston Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, has been charged with intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance and trespassing on a protected site.

He will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

Police were called to the scene in central London at 7.24am on Saturday.

The man scaled the Elizabeth Tower at the Palace of Westminster holding a Palestinian flag on Saturday morning.

Perched barefoot on a ledge with the flag and a keffiyeh – a headdress worn by men in the Middle East – the man remained there for more than 16 hours.

Negotiators and emergency crews at the scene appealed for him to come down.

The man was eventually lifted to the ground in a cherry picker.