A 29-year-old man has been charged after allegedly climbing the Elizabeth Tower at the Palace of Westminster carrying a Palestinian flag.

Daniel Day was charged with intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance and trespassing on a protected site, the Metropolitan Police said.

He is accused of scaling the Tower barefoot at around 7.20am on Saturday, coming back down just after midnight.

Mr Day, of Palmerston Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, was remanded in custody to appear at Westminster magistrates’ court on Monday.

He allegedly spent more than 16 hours barefoot and holding the flag, perched on the clock tower which famously houses Big Ben, before being lifted to the ground in a cherry picker.

In the afternoon, shouts of “Free Palestine!” and “You are a hero!” could be heard from a small group of supporters behind a police cordon at Victoria Embankment.

In a post on X, Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative MP, called for an explanation of how Mr Day allegedly accessed the parliamentary estate.

He said: “Every day in Parliament I see dozens of armed police officers patrolling Portcullis House and the parliamentary estate. Where were they today?

“On Monday there needs to be a full explanation to MPs and staff as to how this protester was able to evade security so easily.”

Parliamentary tours were cancelled over the incident.