Theresa May will face a Cabinet revolt as Brussels attempts to force Britain to accept a year-long Brexit "flextension" which will keep the UK in the EU until March 2020.
Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, yesterday unveiled plans to offer the Prime Minister a year-long extension that will be "automatically terminated" once her deal passes through the Commons.
It will lead to a revolt by Eurosceptic Cabinet ministers and Tory MPs amid concerns that Britain will be forced to take part in European elections.
The proposal is significantly longer than Mrs May's current request to the European Union to extend Article 50 until June 30 of this year.
Mr Tusk's announcement yesterday led to splits in the European Union, with Emmanuel Macron, the French president signalling that he only wanted a short delay.
Mr Macron's office described Mr Tusk's plan as a "clumsy trial balloon" and said the UK must come up with a "clear and credible" plan for leaving or it would have to quit in a "disorderly manner".
A diplomatic cable revealed that the French ambassador secured the support of Spanish and Belgian colleagues to argue for only a short extension.
Prime Minister Theresa May. Photo / Getty Images
Amélie de Montchalin, France's Europe minister, said: "Another extension requires that the UK puts forward a plan with a clear and credible political backing. The European Council would then have to define the necessary conditions attached to this extension.
"In the absence of such a plan, we would have to acknowledge that the UK chose to leave the EU in a disorderly manner."
The extension also divided ministers. On Thursday, Cabinet members discussed the prospect of a longer Brexit delay during five-and-a-half hours of talks in Downing Street.
Stephen Barclay, the Eurosceptic Brexit Secretary, argued that Britain must leave by May 22 at the latest. "We need to get out," he reportedly said. However, ministers including Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, and Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney General, made the case for a longer extension. They said that the length of the Article 50 extension would be ultimately determined by the EU, which was likely to demand a significantly longer delay. The length of the delay, they said, was ultimately less important than ensuring there was a "watertight" mechanism to bring the extension to an end as soon as a deal was secured.
They argued that if Britain opted for a shorter extension now, the EU may refuse to grant another. One source said the discussion centred on whether a shorter Article 50 extension was more a matter of "optics" than one based on "logic and reason".
"We know it will have to be a longer extension," the source said. "But we can't make it look like we were going for it. That would be suicide."Another source said that Olly Robbins, the Prime Minister's chief Brexit negotiator, had advised that the EU was likely to demand a longer extension.
The Prime Minister's decision to request an extension until June 30 appeared carefully calculated to chart a course between her Eurosceptic critics and those urging her to request a longer extension.
In the event it did neither. Owen Paterson, a Eurosceptic Tory MP and former Cabinet minister, said that the Tories should "go nuclear" and push again for a no-deal Brexit. "Conservatives have nine days left to save themselves from political annihilation," Mr Paterson said.
Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, was withering, saying that the move "came as little surprise" given the Prime Minister's "lamentable" handling of negotiations.
"It should not have been like this. Exiting the EU has become chaotic because of intransigence in Brussels and ineffectiveness in London," Mrs Foster said.
"The United Kingdom fighting European elections almost three years after a clear majority voted to leave the EU sums up the disorganised and slapdash approach taken to negotiations by the Prime Minister."
"There's no easy way through this," one ally of the Prime Minister said. "There are no good moves left to play."
A longer extension will lead to a significant backlash from Eurosceptic Cabinet ministers including Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the Commons, and Penny Mordaunt, the International Development Secretary.
However, Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, said the UK would be left with "no choice" but to request a longer extension if the deadlock could not be broken.
He told the BBC: "It's obviously not optimal to have any extension at all and we have a plan to leave the EU and deliver on the referendum result which we put before Parliament a number of times.
"We still hope to leave the EU in the next couple of months, that's our ambition." But Mr Hunt added: "We don't have a majority in Parliament and that means that we have to have these discussions with Jeremy Corbyn to see if there is enough common ground to do that."
Asked if he could accept a long extension, Mr Hunt said: "If we can't find a way through with Parliament then we have no choice."
There are increasing concerns among European leaders about Mrs May's approach.
Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, said the Prime Minister's letter seeking the extension "raises many questions". Mr Rutte told reporters at his weekly press conference in The Hague: "The plan was that the British would explain what they wanted from the EU."
"A letter was sent today which, as far as I am concerned, doesn't answer this request (from the EU for more information). I hope it will be possible to give the answers to these questions."
"We hope London will provide more clarity before Wednesday."
Heiki Mass, the German foreign minister, added that "many questions" remained about the Prime Minister's plan.
