On Wednesday, European officials agreed to another extension to Article 50 should the UK put forward a proposal by the end of September. Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne warned that if the UK does not come up with alternative plans, then any hope of securing a Brexit deal would be “over”.

However, in defiance of those warnings, No 10 has insisted that the proposals will not be published on the EU’s timeline.

A spokesman for No 10 told The Sun that there was no cause to publish proposals at this time until “the EU is clear that it will engage constructively on them as a replacement for the backstop”.

Mr Johnson will reportedly up the pressure on Brussels by not revealing his Brexit plans until after the Tory conference.

That would leave the UK with two weeks to negotiate a deal before the Eu summit begins on October 17.

One senior source close to the Prime Minister told The Sun: “There will be 10 or 11 intensive days after October 2.

“We will know by the start of the summit week whether there’s a deal to be done or not.

“Everyone needs to jump at the same time during that period, and there are an awful lot of different people who need to jump.

“Until then, it’s all basically just shadow boxing.”

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As it stands, MPs will not return to Parliament until October 14 following the end of the suspension.

Mr Johnson will have until October 19 to present a deal before the Commons under the terms of Hilary Benn’s EU withdrawal bill.

However, if there is no deal presented or if Parliament cannot agree on a potential exit, the opposition parties have indicated that will allow a general election following October 31.

On his visit to Salisbury Plain, Mr Johnson did indicate that progress had been made over a potential deal with the EU.

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Mr Johnson said on Thursday: “I don’t want to exaggerate the progress that we are making, but we are making progress.

“You heard Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday say that he doesn’t have any emotional attachment to the backstop. Now that is progress – they weren’t saying that a month ago.

“But let’s see where we get. It’s vital, whatever happens, that we prepare for no deal.”

Mr Juncker did admit for the first time that he was willing to scrap the contentious Irish Backstop in order to get a deal agreed with the UK.

The President of the EU Commission described his meeting with Mr Johnson on Monday as “a rather positive meeting”.

He also added: “As far as alternative arrangements are concerned, allowing us and Britain to achieve the main objective of the backstop, I don’t have an erotic relation to the backstop.

“If the results are there, I don’t care about the instrument.

“If the objectives are met – all of them – then we don’t need the backstop.”

Away from the issue of the Backstop, Tory MPs who betrayed Boris Johnson and the Conservatives by backing a rival anti-no deal Brexit deal have been told they “can” stand again for the party, despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson claiming they never would again.

Lawyers for the rebels say their votes were not a confidence matter.

This, they say, means Mr Johnson could be forced to make a humiliating U-turn and welcome them back.

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