Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Larry settles in
Anybody would think that there was no news to report. Larry-fever overtook the media yesterday with the poor animal being harangued from pillar to post by cameramen and photographers. The Independent reports that the taxpayer will not pay for his food. Instead he will live off the Downing Street rats and scraps founf for him by the staff. I will believe that when I see it.The BBC say that according to Downing Street, Larry has "a high chase-drive and hunting instinct", developed during his time on the streets. He has also shown "a very strong predatory drive" and enjoyed playing with toy mice. They then went on to report that the cat had slept through most of his first afternoon in Westminster, saying he "seems relaxed and easy going". It sounds like he will be at home amongst politicians then.
Over at the Guardian's Comment is Free, Jonathan Calder argues that cats are not the natural companions of Tories:
You could argue that his arrival marks a much-needed victory for Nick Clegg. True, Larry is a waif from a cats' home in Battersea, lending the affair a Dickensian flavour that will appeal to the Conservatives' mill-owning tendency, but Tories are natural dog owners. They are drawn to a pack animal that can be trained to do exactly what you tell it.
Thinking about it, it might be more accurate to say that dogs are natural Tories.
It would be too tame to call cats Liberals. They are naturally individualists or anarchists – a dog would probably accuse them of being nihilists. But one thing is certain: they are not Conservatives.
So Larry will have to be on his guard, surrounded as he is by people who are not his natural allies.
Meanwhile, the cat itself has already got three unofficial Twitter accounts. His thoughts and musings can be found at Downing Street Cat, Downing Street Larry and No. 10 Larry.
It is only a matter of time before the cat gets a blog, a facebook page and a regular feature in Private Eye.
Update: there is also a twitter feed for the No. 10 rat. It seems that I spoke too soon, Larry the Cat has his own column in today's Daily Telegraph:
Overall, though, I'm settling in nicely. Caught a few mice already, although I thought it would be best to work my way up to the rats (I mean, have you seen the size of them?). Only problem is, I'm not sure everyone's happy to see me.
Overall, though, I'm settling in nicely. Caught a few mice already, although I thought it would be best to work my way up to the rats (I mean, have you seen the size of them?). Only problem is, I'm not sure everyone's happy to see me.
First, the waxy-faced bloke who lives next door popped in to see Dave's new "pet project" (ho, ho), and kept on referring to me as "Lawrence", until I hissed at him. "Oh dear," he said. "Another one from the wrong side of the tracks. Still, I suppose we do need someone to replace poor Andy."
Just as I was trying to work out what he meant, this other guy, sort of lavender-scented, stormed in. "Why wasn't I consulted about this?" he said. "There's nothing about it in the Coalition Agreement. And bringing it in to kill rats – it's just blood sports by the back door. Well, you Tories may be used to hunting God's creatures, but I'm certainly not."
Dave, bless him, just smiled at them both. "I think he'll fit right in here, actually," he said. "Apparently, he has a very strong predatory drive. Perfect for the political world." After they'd left, he picked me up and started stroking me, muttering something about a "Claws Four moment". Humans, eh?
