Plans afoot for Scotland Office cat

Is there room for more than one furry feline in Whitehall? Initially brought into quell the government’s mouse problem, the various departmental cats have over the years become a brand in themselves – with one of the longest serving being No. 10’s Larry the cat. Yet since Labour got into power, Larry has been the unfortunate subject of some rather negative briefings.

The new Scottish Secretary Ian Murray is on the record as calling the Prime Minister’s chief-mouser ‘the most miserable animal you’ll ever meet in your life’, summing it up simply: ‘Larry the cat is a little sh*t.’ It’s a view the Labour minister shares with former PM Boris Johnson, who is said to have blasted Larry as a ‘thug’. ‘Larry is always in photos with politicians – but there’s a reason they rarely get close enough to touch him,’ advises Mr S’s Whitehall mole.

Yet change could be coming. Steerpike understands that plans are afoot to bring in a new cat to the Whitehall eco-system as Murray is said to have desires for a feline of his own to inhabit Dover House.