Playing cat and mouse at Downing Street

Important news from London. Larry the Cat has a new housemate at Downing Street. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced the arrival of a white Siberian kitten called Prince. This breed of cat is apparently “good at problem solving” so considering the state of the UK at the moment it should be kept very busy in the PM’s office. It is unclear if it will attend Cabinet meetings as being a Russian breed it may face security issues.
The kitten has already experienced its first photo-op where it looked a bit bewildered by all the fuss. Mr Starmer explained that his kids actually wanted a German Shepherd dog but looking after a kitten seemed more practical.
How Larry, the permanent resident moggy at No 10, will take to having a fellow feline prowling around remains to be seen. Larry, whose official title is the Chief Mouser, is known to have a “bit of an attitude” when it comes to territorial rights. He has been involved in a number of skirmishes with Palmerston, the Foreign Ministry cat and Gladstone, the chief mouser at the Treasury.
However at the ripe old age of 17 Larry has slowed down a bit and there have been murmurs that he has been rather lax in his official rat-catching duties.
So we could be in for some lively times at No 10, especially if Prince proves to be a top mouser.
Passengers on a luxury world sea cruise embarking from Belfast have had an unorthodox introduction to what was promoted as a voyage of a lifetime aboard the liner Villa Vie Odyssey.
It is certainly an ambitious trip. Carrying just 125 passengers, it aims to be the longest cruise ever, lasting 1,301 days visiting all seven continents and stopping at 425 ports in 147 countries. Now that’s quite a journey.
Unfortunately things have not gone quite to plan.
The cruise was supposed to set off from Northern Ireland in May but has been stuck in Belfast for the last four months for unexpected repairs. At least it gave passengers plenty of opportunities to familiarise themselves with the joys of Guinness and Belfast Baps.
When they eventually got the all clear earlier this week the ship had to park off the Belfast coast for another three days because of what the owners called “unfinished administration”.
Then on Thursday night the Odyssey triumphantly headed off towards its first official destination of Brest in France. A company spokesman assured passengers it would be an “extraordinary journey” and judging what has happened so far no one will dispute that.
Apparently some of the passengers plan to stay on the 31-year-old vessel for many years. Just imagine that.
Not having seafarer’s legs my maritime experiences are limited to feeling unwell on assorted ferries in odd parts of the globe. My original overland to trip to Thailand in 1969 began with a trip aboard the Ramsgate–Ostend ferry. The diary entry on that gloomy January day read “Arrived Ostend feeling grim” after a choppy ride across the Channel to Belgium. Not the most auspicious start to the long journey.
The next boat trip, about four months and 9,000 kilometres later was much more pleasant and certainly warmer aboard a freighter from Songkhla up the Gulf of Thailand to Bangkok. An English friend and I had earlier arrived in Thailand and being totally broke had hitchhiked from Bangkok to Malaysia to pick up some funds in Alor Setar.
We had enjoyed Thailand so much we decided to return to Bangkok, this time in more leisurely fashion from Songkhla aboard the Bangmara, a Thai Maritime Navigation Company vessel. Sleeping deck class it cost the grand sum of 75 baht.
The young Thai crew seemed very happy to have a couple of farang on board. We ate with the crew and not surprisingly it was fish for breakfast, lunch and supper. In the evening they would get the guitars out and have a sing-song. It was totally relaxing and a wonderful introduction to Thai hospitality.
We anchored off Koh Samui but unfortunately did not have time to go ashore. All you could see was coconut trees and sandy beaches. Absolutely no tourists.
By the time we sailed up the Chao Phraya River to Klong Toey I got the feeling I might be staying in Thailand for just a little longer than planned.
Another great thespian gone. Dame Maggie Smith passed away last week at 89. She had been around so long I thought she would go on forever.
I first saw her in the 1969 film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie which won her an Oscar. Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader called it “one of those technically stunning, emotionally distant performances that the British are so damn good at”. After that I always looked out for her name and she never disappointed.
It was a tribute to Maggie that after joining the Harry Potter series at the age of 67 she appealed to young audiences who had never even heard of her before. Reflecting on the reaction to her role as Professor McGonagall she later commented. “A lot of small people would say hello to me and that was very nice.” More recently she was in top form in the Marigold Hotel films.
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