Word is going round the Lobby that UK investigators are about to pore over the final Ahmedabad crash report. That is not a routine extradition. That is a signal.
The Department for Transport has been unusually quiet. No minister has gone near Today programme on this. I am told the Secretary of State is waiting for the final text from the AAIB before making any statement.
But here is the real story. The backbenchers are restless. A cross-party group is forming.
Not official, of course. Off-the-record drinks in a Pugin Room corner. Concerns centre on two things.
One, the technical data about the final approach. Two, the links between Air India's ownership and the broader Labour-India diplomatic push. The PM’s office is watching this closely.
They cannot afford another scandal that drags in Delhi. The Opposition smells blood. A senior Labour source told me last night: 'If this report shows pilot error compounded by maintenance gaps, the whole narrative about 'global Britain' and aviation safety unravels.
' The key date now is the final report. Every party operative knows that. The WhatsApp groups are buzzing.
Whips are nervous by the betting slips. Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission is doing its quiet rounds. They want a narrow technical finding.
No political inferences. But that is not how Westminster works. The game is already on.
The battle lines are drawn. Watch the committee corridors. Watch the members who suddenly have airline safety questions.
That is not concern. That is positioning. This story is not about planes.
It is about leverage. And there is plenty of that left. More to follow.
