A recent protest incident at the UK Parliament involving a demonstrator scaling the iconic Elizabeth Tower, also known as Big Ben, has sparked debate about the cost of policing major incidents in London. The event, which took place on March 8, 2025, saw a pro-Palestinian supporter breach security measures and ascend the tower.
Breakdown of Costs
Thanks to a query raised by Assembly Member Alex Wilson on March 20, a detailed breakdown of the policing and emergency services costs associated with the incident has been released.
The total cost of policing the protest and handling the aftermath amounts to £190,786.96. This figure includes the following:
- Opportunity costs: £169,856.87
- Overtime costs: £20,000 (estimated)
- Internal Fleet costs: £930.09
These costs were incurred as part of the large-scale emergency response required when the protestor, identified as Daniel Day, breached security and climbed the tower.
Emergency Resource Deployment
According to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), most of the emergency assets were redeployed from central resources. Additional resources were called in from several London boroughs, including:
- Lambeth
- Southwark
- Barnet
- Harrow
- Brent
- Hillingdon
- Ealing
Specialist rope-trained officers from Gravesend were also deployed to manage the situation. The MPS Tactical Support Group (TSG) public order reserves were redirected from their usual duties to focus on this incident.
