The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square has been defaced with pro-Palestine graffiti saying “globalise the intifada”, with a 38 year-old man reported to be a Palestine Action activist arrested and in police custody. The Telegraph has more.

The words “free Palestine”, “Zionist war criminal” and “Globalise the Intifada” were written across the statue of the former Prime Minister in Westminster overnight.

The Metropolitan Police said a 38 year-old man was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage at around 4am on Friday morning.

Footage of the vandalism shared on social media showed a bearded man dressed in red overalls spray-painting the statue.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “It’s obviously a disgrace. It’s completely abhorrent.

“Churchill was a great Briton. This Government will always stand up for our values and the perpetrator must be held to account. We’re glad the police have made an arrest.”

Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, claimed that the incident was evidence of “sectarianism” spreading across the country.

Linking the attack to the Green Party’s Gorton and Denton by-election victory, he said: “There’s a resurgent hard-Left working now with sectarian politics, and emboldened off the back of it, the Churchill statue in London has been vandalised overnight, calling him a Zionist and saying ‘Globalise the Intifada’.

“We are in very, very big trouble, and the only party that will fight this, that will turn this around, that will clean up the voting system, is Reform.”

Al Carns, the Armed Forces Minister, called the vandalism “a prime example of utter stupidity and a lack of understanding as to what this great nation is all about”.

“The very reason that you have the right to protest is because this great man stood up against tyranny and Nazism. His leadership provided you the freedom and the security to object and to stand up for what you believe in,” he added.

Andrew Rosindell, a Reform MP who defected from the Tories, told the Telegraph: “Our historic national monuments cannot be allowed to be blank canvasses for Islamic fundamentalists and radical socialists to sprawl their inflammatory rhetoric.

“Britain will not be intimidated by mob hatred or extremist slogans. Those who attempt to divide our country or deface its heroes must be held accountable.”

Worth reading in full.

According to ILTV Israel: “The suspect has been identified as Olax Outis. According to previous reports, he was arrested in the Netherlands in connection with actions targeting Elbit Systems and carried out a hunger strike in solidarity with the activist group Palestine Action.”