Theresa May surrendered to a Remainer revolt today by promising that MPs will get a vote on whether to delay Brexit.
With negotiations deadlocked in Brussels and the clock running down, the PM told the Commons it will get a chance to extend Article 50 within a fortnight.
The climbdown comes as Mrs May scrambles to avert mass resignations by ministers who had been vowing to rule out no deal in crunch votes tomorrow.
'The UK will only leave without a deal on 29th March if there is explicit consent for that outcome,' she said.
The premier warned that an extension could only be a 'one-off' and was not something she wanted to do - and insisted she will never cancel the Brexit process altogether, saying the UK could make a 'success' of no deal if it has to.
But the concession will cause fury among Eurosceptics who have been adamant the option of leaving without an agreement must be kept on the table.
It also leaves Tory hardliners with a stark choice of either backing Mrs May's plan in the showdown, which will happen by March 12, or accepting an almost inevitable delay to the UK's departure.
Ministers are thought to have had heated exchanges at Cabinet in Downing Street this morning as Mrs May laid out her proposals, but there are no signs of resignations as yet.
The PM again drew a blank after a frantic round of Brexit talks with EU counterparts at a summit in Egypt over the past two days.
EU council chief Donald Tusk heaped pressure on the PM by urging her to take the 'rational solution' of an extension. One proposal favoured in Brussels is a 21-month delay, which would essentially replace the transition period.
However, the PM's aides have suggested she is only likely to hold out the prospect of a shorter two-month postponement. At the weekend, Miss Rudd, Mr Clark and Mr Gauke made clear in the Mail that they opposed a No Deal departure and Brexit must be delayed unless there was a breakthrough on Mrs May’s deal this week.
Tomorrow’s vote would empower Parliament to force a Brexit delay on the Government if Mrs May has failed to get a deal passed by March 13.
The Prime Minister remains unconvinced that a delay to Brexit will help the process, warning yesterday that an extension of Article 50 ‘doesn’t deliver a decision in Parliament and it doesn’t deliver a deal.’
Speaking at an EU summit in Egypt where she held emergency Brexit talks with fellow leaders, Mrs May said progress was being made and a deal to take the UK out on March 29 remained ‘within our grasp’.
But she refused to explicitly rule out a Brexit delay. One ally of the PM said: ‘It’s either accept the possibility of a delay or face a potentially heavy defeat in parliament and have it forced on you anyway.
‘It isn’t taking No Deal off the table – you still have to get a deal to do that.’
Another senior Tory said: ‘If 20 ministers have to resign to force this through then they will, but it would have a catastrophic impact on the Government.’
One leading Remainer last night said: ‘I don’t want to resign but if I don’t get the assurances I need from the PM then I will. The Government is not ready to leave without a deal next month – it would be irresponsible.
‘There are enough of us who feel that way to get the Cooper amendment through and everyone knows that.’
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