A new Banksy artwork that sprung up at the Royal Courts of Justice in London is being scrubbed off.

The mural depicted a protester lying on the ground holding a blood-spattered placard, while a judge, dressed in a wig and gown, loomed over him while wielding a gavel.

The work was first seen on Monday on an external wall of the Queen’s Building, part of the Royal Courts of Justice complex.

It was covered up and guarded by security staff, with HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) taking the decision to remove it due to the building being listed and therefore legally protected.

It is understood that work began to remove the image on Tuesday and resumed on Wednesday.

Good Law Project posted on X about the artwork’s removal, stating: “The court is erasing Banksy’s mural just like it’s erasing our right to protest.

“It only took 48 hours for the Royal Courts of Justice to scrub out a Banksy showing a judge striking down a protester with his gavel.

“Silencing a work of art about silencing protest? Maybe it was a little too close to home.”

Banksy confirmed he was responsible for the work with a post on Instagram, showing the graffiti before it was covered over.

The artist, whose identity is the source of constant speculation, captioned the pictures: “Royal Courts Of Justice. London.”

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Banksy is known for his graffiti and performance art pranks.

His Love Is In The Bin artwork – which famously shredded itself after being sold in 2018 – sold at auction in 2021 for £18.5m.

Elsewhere, a Banksy mural removed from the wall of a former shop in Lowestoft, Suffolk, in 2021 was later sold for an undisclosed sum.

At the time, experts said it could have fetched hundreds of thousands of pounds, with rumours swirling it may have gone for up to £2m.

Banksy’s stencilled graffiti is often a comment on political issues, and many of his pieces are critical of government policy, war and capitalism.

The artwork comes after almost 900 demonstrators were arrested for protesting in central London on Saturday against the banning of Palestine Action as a terror group.

It was proscribed by the UK government under anti-terror laws earlier this year.

It makes membership of, or support for, the direct action group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, while even wearing a T-shirt or badge with the group’s name on could attract a maximum six-month sentence.

The ban came shortly after two Voyager aircraft suffered around £7m worth of damage at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on 20 June.

Banksy’s artwork also came weeks after the Lady Chief Justice, the most senior judge in England and Wales, repeated concerns for the safety of judges, who she said had been subjected to “increasingly unacceptable sensationalist and inaccurate abuse”.

The work was reported as criminal damage, with the Metropolitan Police stating that inquiries were ongoing.

A HMCTS spokesperson said: “The Royal Courts of Justice is a listed building and HMCTS are obliged to maintain its original character.”

Sam Fender is among the artists in the running for this year’s Mercury Prize as the ceremony heads to his home city – with Pulp also shortlisted for their big comeback, and Wolf Alice breaking a record.

Other acts announced by judges today include the genre-bending FKA Twigs, indie-pop star CMAT and post-punk band Fontaines DC, who are all up for the award for the second time.

Folk musician Martin Carthy is now believed to be the oldest ever nominee at 84 – and joins his daughter, Eliza Carthy, and late wife Norma Waterson, on the list of Mercury Prize shortlist alumni.

Other first-timers include Jacob Alon and Joe Webb, who are both nominated for debuts, as well as Emma-Jean Thackray, Pa Salieu and PinkPantheress.

This is a huge year for the event, which will take place outside London for the first time after more than 30 years – at Newcastle‘s Utilita Arena on 16 October.

Last year, it was noted by winners English Teacher that they were the first act from outside London to pick up the prize in 10 years. This year’s nominees include artists from Leeds, Sheffield, Gloucestershire, Coventry and Kent, as well as the capital, and more acts from, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

‘Sam Fender shows what is possible’

Ahead of the show, a week-long fringe festival will take place across Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Durham and Northumberland to spotlight the North East’s music scene.

One of the biggest stars to emerge from that scene in recent years is of course Sam Fender, from North Shields. The indie-rock singer-songwriter was first nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2022, for his second album, Seventeen Going Under, and returns to the shortlist this year with his third chart-topper, People Watching.

“The success of artists like Sam Fender shows what is possible for young musicians in our region,” North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said earlier this year. “Hosting the Mercury Prize in the North East gives us the opportunity to showcase our home-grown talent.”

Previous Mercury winners Pulp and Wolf Alice are both nominated for the fourth time.

For Wolf Alice, who first made the cut with their debut My Love Is Cool in 2015 and won with their second album Visions Of A Life in 2018 before a third nod for Blue Weekend in 2021, this latest recognition for The Clearing means that every single one of the four albums they have ever released has been in the running.

They previously held this accolade with Laura Mvula and Anna Calvi, who have been both nominated for all three of their studio albums.

Pulp were first nominated for their fourth album His’n’Hers in 1994 and won with Different Class, one of the most famous albums of the Britpop era, in 1996. A nomination for This Is Hardcore followed in 1998 – and now More, their first album in more than 20 years, has earned them a nod once again.

Former Ivor Novello nominee Pa Salieu receives his Mercury nod for Afrikan Alien, released in November 2024 – just a few months after he was released from prison.

The rapper and singer was convicted in 2022 for his part in an attack which happened in 2018. “I done sh*t I don’t even forgive myself for,” he told British Vogue in an interview when the album was released. He said he had been writing songs in prison. “It’s the lessons you learn. Everyone has a right to learn.”

And CMAT returns for the second year in a row, after being nominated for her second album, Crazymad, For Me, in 2024, and now Euro-Country.

The Mercury Prize launched in 1992, when Simply Red’s Stars, U2’s Achtung Baby, and The Jesus And Mary Chain’s Honey’s Dead were among the nominees – and Primal Scream’s Screamadelica took the inaugural award.

It celebrates music by British and Irish acts and spans a huge range of different musical genres and artists throughout all stages of their careers, from newcomers to veterans.

As well as English Teacher, other recent winners include Michael Kiwanuka, Arlo Parks, Little Simz and Ezra Collective.

BBC director-general Tim Davie has told MPs that “we may see more things coming out” after being asked for assurance there will not be another “scandal of BBC talent abusing their position”.

He told the Culture, Media and Sport Committee: “I think things have changed since we last talked to the committee, we are seeing people call it out, and that is a positive change, but it’s ongoing work.

“I don’t think you can change culture in six months and suddenly say nothing’s going to occur.

“We may see more things coming out, because in some ways I’m asking for it, and being utterly transparent and running towards the problem, that’s what we need to do.”

Mr Davie, who was joined by BBC chair Samir Shah on Tuesday, faced questions on subjects including the corporation’s Gaza documentary, its Glastonbury coverage and the recent Gregg Wallace investigation, as well as this year’s Strictly Come Dancing line-up.

The BBC has faced a series of recent controversies, most prominently the sacking of MasterChef presenter Greg Wallace after claims of inappropriate behaviour.

Presenter John Torode was later axed from the show after an allegation that he used an “extremely offensive racist term”.

On Monday, it was announced that restaurant critic Grace Dent and Irish chef Anna Haugh will be fronting the forthcoming series.

‘No one is irreplaceable – absolutely no one’

On the question of top talent being treated as irreplaceable, Mr Shah said: “No one is irreplaceable. Absolutely no one, seriously, no one”.

Mr Davie added: “We’re all dispensable. That’s an absolute, unequivocal position being given to the whole BBC.”

He also stressed: “We don’t call them talent… Everyone is talent.”

When asked about the decision to air the latest series of MasterChef, with Wallace and Torode still at the helm, Mr Davie said it was “a tough call,” but insisted it was the right decision “on balance” because the “vast majority” of contestants wanted the programme to go out.

Mr Davie added: “I think the consequences for the individuals who presented have been very significant. They no longer work with the BBC.”

The corporation also found itself in hot water in July after it breached its editorial guidelines over a Gaza documentary that was narrated by the child of a Hamas official.

Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone aired on the BBC in February but was pulled from iPlayer after it emerged that the child narrator was the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.

Mr Davie called the broadcast of the documentary, which was made by independent production company Hoyo Films, “a bad mistake,” and said BBC had “executed the recommendations,” adding, “There are people who are facing consequences.”

When asked about Israel refusing to allow journalists into Gaza, Mr Davie said it was “unacceptable,” calling coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, “the toughest coverage challenge we have ever faced”.

BBC accused of ‘disrespect’ over Gaza: Doctors Under Attack

A second documentary was also discussed, Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, which was commissioned by the BBC but subsequently shelved. It was eventually aired by Channel 4 in July.

It was suggested the corporation had been “overcautious” in their decision not to air the film, an accusation Mr Davie denied. He said the BBC have a different set of guidelines to Channel 4.

Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton, Dr Rupa Huq, claimed the documentary was recently “the most asked about thing” at a recent BBC all-staff meeting, and called the corporation’s treatment of the film: “A disrespect for small, independent work done with integrity that you sit on it for months, give some spurious reason and another channel covers it.”

Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury set: ‘We’re not broadcasting this guy’

In June, the livestreaming of the controversial Bob Vylan set at Glastonbury, when the band led chants of “death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces),” led the BBC to announce it would stop broadcasting “high risk” performances live.

When questioned about Vylan’s controversial set, Mr Davie insisted, “I don’t think I misread [the situation]”.

He said the Vylan performance was “absolutely an antisemitic broadcast,” was “deeply disturbing” and admitted “the BBC made a very significant mistake”.

Describing the situation as it played out, Mr Davie said when he became aware of the issue at around 5pm on the afternoon of the live broadcast, his approach was “very quick,” and he said, “Get it off on demand, we’re not broadcasting this guy”. He added, “I think I did the right thing”.

Speaking to the decision of BBC staff to continue broadcasting the set despite the chants, Mr Davie said he had to be “proportionate” in his judgement following an ongoing investigation but said there will be “consequences for individuals that we’re working through at the moment.”

Irish rap trio Kneecap appeared on the same stage directly after Bob Vylan and led the Glastonbury audience in “Free Palestine” chants, but their set was not streamed live.

Davie on Strictly casting backlash: ‘We’ve cut the list down too far’

When asked about another editorial production call – the decision to cast ex-Apprentice contestant Tom Skinner on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing – Mr Davie said it was “not my decision” and that he “was not an expert on the individual per se”.

Mr Davie said it was decided by “the production team,” who “thought [Skinner] would be interesting to the audience”.

Skinner, who now has a large social media following, has previously shared posts saying it is “not far-right” to be “flying your flag and loving your country”, and complaining “it ain’t safe out there anymore” in London.

Mr Davie said: “I think it’s fine to cast an individual as long as they’re within boundaries”.

When asked what those boundaries were, he said: “If someone has broadcast things that are totally unacceptable [and] racist, you know, we don’t want anywhere near our shows. That’s obvious. That’s what our [production] team have to judge.”

He added: “I don’t think it’s right to say, ‘We won’t have anyone who’s ever said anything that you either disagree with is slightly controversial on social media’. I don’t think that works, frankly. I just think we’ve cut the list down too far nowadays”.