Officer, please let this patient and rather important cat into 10 Downing Street

Reporting from the steps of 10 Downing Street, one expects to be upstaged by the sudden appearance of the UK's Prime Minister Theresa May.

But one news reporter found his broadcast instead overshadowed by a very patient cat waiting to be let inside the London premises by a police officer.

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The moment, which the BBC called "the most British thing you'll see today," was caught on Tuesday during a news report from Sky News' political correspondent Tom Rayner, discussing Brexit and May's future outside her famous residence.

On such a characteristically rainy London day, this patient feline had every right to be let in. But folks, this is not just any cat. It's Larry, the 12-year-old tabby and official chief mouser to the Cabinet Office, who has been in residence at 10 Downing Street since February 2011.

Image: UK GOvernment/wikicommons

Larry gained notoriety for being a general badass when reports of a beef with the Foreign Office's chief mouser, Palmerston, emerged in 2016.

According to the UK government's website, Larry's official duties include "greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defences, and testing antique furniture for napping quality. His day-to-day responsibilities also include contemplating a solution to the mouse occupancy of the house."

So, let this rather important cat in, officer.

Sky News' Rayner was fine with being upstaged, acknowledging the importance of the four-pawed attention-seeker.

The moment was not lost on Twitter, which saw countless posts from people unpacking the complexities of Larry's conundrum.

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