Avoiding police was easy, says protester who scaled Big Ben
AN EXTINCTION Rebellion activist who scaled the Big Ben clock tower dressed as Boris Johnson said it had been “really easy” to sidestep police.
Fresh questions were raised over security at Westminster after Ben Atkinson, 43, told The Daily Telegraph he had simply jumped over a railing to reach the Elizabeth Tower, which houses the famous bell, where he climbed scaffolding and unfurled two protest banners.
He entered the Parliamentary estate opposite Westminster Tube station, only yards from where Khalid Masood crashed his car during a terrorist attack in March 2017, in which four people were killed. An inquest found that security at Westminster had “completely failed” Pc Keith Palmer, who was stabbed to death.
“It’s clear they’re not just underfunding the NHS, they’re underfunding Westminster security as well,” said Mr Atkinson, who works as a yurt builder in the Lake District.
He had promised not to come down until the Prime Minister had personally called him to discuss climate change. “I’ve called Downing Street over and over again but the line was engaged,” he added, speaking on his mobile phone. He was, however, eventually brought to the ground by police using a lift attached to scaffolding around Big Ben, nearly three hours after his protest began.
His action came after two fellow activists were dragged from London Underground trains by furious commuters on Thursday, provoking a widespread backlash, and XR yesterday admitted the movement had “serious flaws”.
The group painted red hand prints around Whitehall before ending their “Autumn Uprising” yesterday, a day earlier than planned
The Met said 1,768 arrests had been made in connection with the protests, but a police spokesman refused to comment on security at Westminster. ♦ Legal reforms to protect Parliament from protesters have been demanded by a joint committee of MPS and peers because of the “normalisation of abuse” of politicians. The committee on human rights said there should be a statutory duty on police to “protect the UK’S democratic institutions” and guarantee MPS and lords a right of access.
It also backed duty of care legislation on tech firms to combat online harms.