A win for Remain! Larry the cat can stay

Larry the cat will not be evicted from No 10, Cabinet Office confirms

The Cameron family has to leave Downing Street without the tabby who has lived in Downing Street since 2011. The Downing Street cat will be spared eviction from Number 10 when the Cameron family leave, it has been confirmed. Chief mouser Larry – a brown and white tabby entrusted with the rat-catching portfolio – will continue to reside in his famous abode when Theresa May moves in after becoming prime minister.

A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said: “It’s a civil servant’s cat and does not belong to the Camerons – he will be staying.”

Larry, who was rehomed from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in 2011, was said to have a “strong predatory drive” that suggested he would be well suited to the task of rat catching.

David Cameron welcomed the cat’s arrival, and said he would make a “great addition” to the Number 10 team. Larry was the first cat to hold the appointment since stalwart ratter Humphrey was retired in 1997.

Humphrey was so popular that when Tony Blair moved in, officials were forced to organise a photocall to disprove rumours he had been put down by wife Cherie.

Humphrey was succeeded for a short period by Sybil, the pet of then chancellor Alistair Darling, in 2007, but the renowned mouser failed to settle, and returned to Scotland.

Larry previously had competition from George Osborne’s cat Freya, with the two spotted fighting on the pavement in Downing Street. 

The two learned to co-exist, but Freya was eventually exiled to the Kent countryside to live with a member of Mr Osborne’s staff in 2014.

An unofficial Twitter account set up under Larry’s name posted on Monday: “Does anyone know a good cat groomer available tomorrow? I need to make a good impression on someone on my first day with the new PM …”

It had earlier tweeted: “One final thing before they’ll let you have the job, TheresaMay2016 – tell the people you’ll keep me in Number 10.”

Can you find the words that fit these definitions?

1. a cat with a striped coat

2. strongly built, robust

3. to move forcefully from a building

4. to drive away, to separate somebody from their country or home

5. the office or post of a minister

6. a gossip, a story that is not surely true

7. to be perfectly fit

8. a place of residence, a home

9. to find a new home for

10. to live permanently

11. to notice, to observe

12. to be unsuccessful or unable

Key

1. tabby

2. stalwart

3. to evict

4. to exile

5. portfolio

6. rumour

7. to be well-suited

8. abode

9. to rehome

10. to reside

11. to spot

12. to fail