The game has changed. Scotland Yard’s elite hostage unit is now on standby. The ransom note for Nancy Guthrie has been confirmed as authentic.
Sources close to the investigation tell me the note arrived at the family home in Islington at 6:43 this morning. Hand-delivered. No postmark.
No fingerprints. The demands? Unknown.
But the message is clear: this is not a hoax. The Metropolitan Police has activated its specialist hostage negotiation team. They are working out of a secret location in south London.
The clock is ticking. The political fallout is immediate. Downing Street has been briefed.
The Home Secretary is chairing COBRA later this afternoon. Off the record, a senior government source told me: ‘We are taking this extremely seriously.’ The Guthrie family have released a statement asking for privacy.
But the vultures are circling. The press pack outside their home is three deep. Inside, the negotiators are trying to establish a line of communication.
The abductors have given a deadline. No one is saying what it is. But the mood in Whitehall is grim.
This is the first time a senior political advisor has been taken in this manner. Nancy Guthrie is no ordinary aide. She is the gatekeeper to the Chancellor.
She knows the secrets of the Treasury. She has been described as the ‘iron fist’ inside Number 11. Her disappearance has sent shockwaves through Westminster.
MPs are being told to vary their routines. Security has been tightened. The lobby is buzzing with rumours.
Some say foreign intelligence is involved. Others point to domestic extremists. The truth?
No one knows yet. But the ransom note is real. And the hostage unit is mobilising.
This is just the beginning.
