Mousing moggy Attlee declares Coronation reception all-clear as parrot Boris practices his ‘God Save the King’
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Attlee the cat has seen to that after being put on mouse patrol in Westminster Hall.
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle's pet moggy has carried out a security sweep of the venue ahead of the celebratory reception which will be attended by King Charles, Queen Consort Camilla, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Opposition Leader Sir Keir Starmer.
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Hide AdAnd the place was declared rodent-free after Attlee - named after former Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee - inspected every nook and cranny of the oldest building on the parliamentary estate, where thousands of mourners filed past Queen Elizabeth II's coffin lying in state in September.
Chorley MP Sir Lindsay, who is hosting the reception as Speaker of the House of Commons, said: "Attlee has been going round to check there aren’t any mice around and there were absolutely none.”
Attlee is one of a number of politically named pets owned by animal lover Sir Lindsay, including Boris the parrot and Maggie the tortoise, so-named because she has a hard shell and is not for turning.
Boris, said Sir Lindsay, has been "shouting quite loudly" in the build-up to the Coronation on Saturday. "We’ve been trying to get him to sing God Save The King. He’s been listening very carefully."
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Hide AdSir Lindsay's menagerie, which he took down to Westminster from his home in Chorley, also includes a Patterdale terrier called Betty, named after former Speaker Baroness Betty Boothroyd. And he also had a Rottweiler called Gordon, named after former PM Gordon Brown.
Sir Lindsay said it was a “wonderful privilege” to be invited to the ceremony – though his menagerie did not make the guestlist. He described the modern constitutional monarchy as a “grown-up recognition of democracy in this country” and said he looks forward to Charles’ reign.
“I have never known the monarch to object to what the House of Commons does. I never, ever see that happening. What I see is a grown-up recognition of democracy in this country, that we still have a monarch that plays his part,” Sir Lindsay said.
“I’ve got to say, what a privilege that we’ve got the sadness of Her Majesty, but we’ve now got the sunrise of a new King coming.”