12 March 2014
MPs have been banned from keeping a cat in the Commons to hunt mice because of fears it would get too fat on their leftovers to catch vermin.
Commons chiefs rejected an offer from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home for a cat for the Palace of Westminster, which is infested by mice.
Tens of thousands of pounds are spent each year to deal with the problem and there have already been three sightings in the MPs’ Tea Room this year.
John Thurso, spokesman for the Commons Commission, rejected the proposed solution, highlighting “practical problems” including “the likelihood that well-meaning colleagues would feed a cat, making it unlikely that it would catch mice.”
