Climbing on s statue is set to become a crime. Under new laws, offenders could face up to three months in prison and a £1,000 fine for desecrating the monument to Britain's wartime leader in Parliament Square.

New plans mean the 12ft statue of the former prime minister will be added to the list of memorials protected by the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament. Sir Keir Starmer said: "Sir Winston Churchill stands at the summit of our country's greatest heroes, and has been an inspiration to every prime minister that has followed him.

"The justifiable fury that is provoked when people use his statue as a platform for their protests speaks to the deep and enduring love that all decent British people have for Sir Winston.

"It is the least we owe him, and the rest of the greatest generation, to make those acts criminal."

The Government is set to make the announcement ahead of VE Day celebrations.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "As the country comes together to celebrate VE Day, it is only right that we ensure Winston Churchill's statue is treated with the respect and reverence it deserves, along with the other sacred war memorials around our country."

The statue has become a regular target for protesters in recent years.

It was sprayed with graffiti during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

And trans rights activists climbed on the statue and waved placards from its plinth during a protest last month over the Supreme Court's decision on the legal definition of a woman.