Cat’s out of the bag as Treasury reveals Whitehall arrival Gladstone

There could be more claws out in Whitehall after the Treasury confirmed today it was introducing a new pet to the neighbourhood.

BuzzFeed had revealed black moggie Gladstone will vie for dominance with No 10 mouser Larry and the Foreign Office’s Palmerston, who have a reputation for scrapping with each other.

Officials said he was brought in after mice became bolder and were running across office floors during the day.

But capitalising on the interest already shown for other Whitehall cats, they have also set up a dedicated Instagram account for Gladstone.

A spokesman confirmed he is now assisting pest controllers in keeping down the number of mice in the Treasury’s Horse Guards Road offices.

The cat, believed to be about one or two years old, was found wandering the streets in May and rescued by Battersea Cats and Dogs Home.

For his first few weeks Gladstone was kept in a single office, but he will soon be fitted with a tracker device allowing him to wander the Treasury fulfilling his duties.

Civil servants are said to be so taken with their new staff member that they offered pay for his upkeep themselves.