Westminster is holding its breath. A survivor has been pulled from the rubble in Venezuela, six days after the earthquake. The news rippled through Whitehall this afternoon.
Sources confirm the UK's International Search and Rescue team is on standby. They are waiting for the green light from Caracas. But the politics is delicate.
The Foreign Office is negotiating access. They are treading carefully. Venezuela's government is notoriously prickly about foreign intervention.
A Whitehall insider told me: "We are ready to go. The kit is packed.
The team is briefed. But we need the invitation." The survivor, a woman in her thirties, was found in the coastal town of Cumaná.
She had been trapped under a collapsed hotel. Her rescue has galvanised the international community. For the UK, this is a test of soft power.
Boris Johnson was briefed this morning. Downing Street is keen to show that "Global Britain"
delivers. But there are whispers of a rivalry. The French have already deployed their team.
The Germans are on the ground. The UK team is still at Brize Norton. A former minister told me: "
We are being out-manoeuvred. It looks bad." The Foreign Office insists it is a matter of protocol.
They say the Venezuelan government has accepted offers of aid from multiple nations. But the UK's offer is still being processed. The survivor's condition is said to be stable.
She is being treated by local medics. But the window for finding more survivors is closing. The rescue teams are itching to go.
Backbench MPs are growing restless. Labour's shadow foreign secretary has called for an urgent statement. The government is playing it cool.
But the pressure is mounting. One senior Tory backbencher told me: "This is a no-brainer.
We should be leading, not waiting." The Prime Minister's official spokesman said the UK stands ready to assist. But no timeline has been given.
The internal game is complex. There are fears that pushing too hard could offend the Maduro regime. That could harm broader diplomatic efforts.
But the optics are bad. The British public sees other nations helping. They ask: where is our team?
I have spoken to a source close to the rescue coordination. They said the team could be airborne within hours of the go-ahead. The delay is purely political.
The survivor's family have made a public plea for international help. They say more people are trapped. The British team is one of the best in the world.
They have specialist equipment for urban search and rescue. They are trained for exactly this scenario. The question is: will they get the chance to use it?
The government is walking a tightrope. Too slow, and they look weak. Too fast, and they risk a diplomatic incident.
For now, the waiting game continues. But in Westminster, the clock is ticking. I will keep you posted.
