Friday, July 29, 2016
Cats poised to take over UK Government
Like his fellow Westminster felines, Gladstone is a former stray who’s been recruited to catch the mice overrunning the department. He arrived at his new home at the end of June but the fallout from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union meant the public announcement was put on hold:
The decision to recruit the cat was taken by the Treasury’s former acting permanent secretary John Kingman in a bid to conquer the ageing building’s chronic mouse problem.
Officials said that while mice had long been a problem in the department, they had started getting bolder and appearing in offices during the day.
For the first few weeks, Gladstone has been confined to an office with six policy officials where he mainly wanders across their keyboards, chases bluebottles, stares out of the window and snoozes.
But he will soon be fitted with a tracker device so he’s able to wander free around the Treasury estate to fulfil his mousing duties.
His food and upkeep is being paid for by Treasury staff who all contribute into a kitty, and at weekends he’s looked after by the facilities and security team.
One official described Gladstone as “a very affectionate cat who loves cuddles and food”. Some staff have become so smitten that they have even started knitting for him.
Slowly but surely the cats are taking over the governance of Britain. They are natural politicians: expert at ingratiating themselves to get what they want, a killer instinct when it matters and always fighting with each over control of territory.
