Palmerston at the FO

It looks like the Keith Simpson MP and Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond have been following my tenth referendum commandment to keep a sense of humour.

Keith Simpson asked at Foreign Office questions whether Palmerston, the Foreign Office cat, has been positively vetted, and whether the Foreign Secretary could confirm the that cat is not an EU Commission mole.

Comparing Palmerston with the Chancellor's former cat Freya, Mr Hammond replied:

“He is definitely not a mole and I can categorically assure you that Palmerston has been regularly vetted.

“As for being a sleeper, he is definitely a sleeper, I am told very often in my office.”

“But unlike Freya, who went missing for two years, his attendance record has been 100 per cent.

“My experts tell me that that pretty much rules out the possibility of him being a commission employee.”

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