Downing Street sources have confirmed the prime minister will not request a long delay in her letter to EU Council President Donald Tusk today.
A senior government source said: "There's a case for giving parliament more time to find a way forward but people in this country have been waiting nearly three years, they are fed up with parliament's failure to take a decision and the prime minister shares that frustration."
It has not been disclosed what length of time Mrs May will ask for, but an extension until 30 June is expected, as that is the last day Britain could remain in the EU without taking part in European elections.
The decision heads off the immediate threat of high-level resignations, with several members of the cabinet expressing anger yesterday, at their regular weekly meeting, at the prospect of a long delay.
Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the House of Commons and a leading Brexiteer, is understood to have raged to colleagues at the fractious meeting: "This used to be the cabinet that would deliver Brexit... now it's not."
But the decision appears to contradict what the prime minister said a week ago when MPs voted for an extension to Article 50, the legal mechanism to take the UK out of the bloc, after rejecting Mrs May's Brexit deal for a second time.
The prime minister told the Commons: "A short technical extension is likely to be on offer only if we have a deal in place.
"Therefore, the House must understand and accept that if it is not willing to support a deal in the coming days and as it is not willing to support leaving without a deal on 29 March, it is suggesting that there will need to be a much longer extension to Article 50.
"Such an extension would undoubtedly require the UK to hold European Parliament elections in May 2019.
"I do not think that that would be the right outcome, but the House needs to face up to the consequences of the decisions that it has taken."
Last Thursday, Mrs May's deputy, Cabinet Office minister David Lidington, had warned against an extension to the end of June in the absence of a withdrawal deal, as well as suggesting the EU would reject it.
He told MPs: "In the absence of a deal, seeking such a short and, critically, one-off extension would be downright reckless and completely at odds with the position that this House adopted only last night, making a no-deal scenario far more, rather than less, likely.
"Not only that, but from everything we have heard from the EU, both in public and in private, it is a proposal it would not accept."
The prime minister will head to Brussels on Thursday for the latest EU summit, where it is expected the other 27 member states will consider her request for an extension.
If the EU agrees, parliament will have to pass a change to the law, known as a statutory instrument, to remove the current exit date of 29 March - which is just nine days away - from Brexit legislation and replace it with a new date.
While it is expected that EU countries would look more favourably on a request for a short extension, they are looking for Mrs May to make proposals to break the deadlock.
However, Mrs May could face a potential cabinet split, and the threat that such a request will be rejected.
Education Secretary Damian Hinds told Sky News the purpose of the extension was to "get a deal agreed".
He said: "We are coming up really close to the 29 March, my constituents and people across the country are tired of parliament not coming together to reach an agreement and move forward.
"I think if we were talking about a long delay that would frustrate people even more. This should be as short an extension as possible.
"It's going to be a request for a short delay to get the deal agreed. There are a number of technical things, legislative things which would make 29 March not physically doable anyway so we do need some extension but she wants that extension to be as short as possible.
"There remains the risk of no deal unless and until a deal is actually agreed."
Conservative MP and former minister Dominic Grieve, who supports a second EU referendum, suggested the government was chasing a "high risk strategy".
He told Sky News: "In view of the impasse and political crisis, it is strange to reduce one's options in this way."
Labour's shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer MP said: "The prime minister appears to be pursing a course of action that her own deputy last week described as reckless.
"Theresa May is desperate once again to impose a binary choice between her deal and no deal despite parliament clearly ruling out both of those options last week.
"What the government should be doing is showing real leadership, making good on their commitment to break the deadlock and secure an extension with a genuine purpose."
On Tuesday, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, warned a delay would not be approved "without a good reason" and urged people to "finalise all preparations" for a no-deal divorce.
He said: "It is our duty to ask whether this extension would be useful because an extension will be something which would extend uncertainty and uncertainty costs."
Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney also said: "I think people would be very foolish to assume that this is just some kind of political game and that an extension will automatically be facilitated.
"If there is going to be a request for a long extension of Article 50 by the UK then there will need to be a very persuasive plan to go with that to explain why that's needed and how they will use the time to conclude the outstanding issues that haven't been able to be agreed in London in the context of the Brexit process."
Some in government had speculated that Mrs May could ask the EU for a short extension, but with the prospect of a longer one if she cannot get a majority for her deal at a third attempt next week.
While Commons Speaker John Bercow ruled out Mrs May bringing back her deal for another vote without changes, Downing Street is hoping to find a way to do so.
Mrs May already believes the stalemate has left Britain in "crisis", Number 10 has admitted.
Asked whether she agreed with the word used by the solicitor general, the prime minister's spokesperson said she had predicted a "moment of crisis" and that recent events "tell you that situation has come to pass".
Independent
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