Cat sparks Thatcher death rumours

A text message announcing the passing of a pet cat has been blamed for rumours of the death of Baroness Margaret Thatcher.

Canadian transport minister John Baird had sent a message to colleagues reading "Thatcher has died" after his 16-year-old grey tabby, who was named after the former British prime minister, passed on.

A number of attendees at a black tie gala in Toronto, including Conservative PM Stephen Harper, were then apparently told that the cat's 84-year-old namesake had died, the BBC reports.

Aide Dimitri Soudas is said to have started drafting an official statement to mourn the politician's passing before calls to 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace confirmed that the Baroness is still alive.

Soudas reportedly stated: "If the cat wasn't dead, I'd have killed it by now."