Theresa May WON'T ask the EU for a long Brexit delay, it emerged today after the Prime Minister backed down in a chaotic Tory row.

The embattled Tory leader is expected to ask only for a few months of extra time beyond March 29 after fury at her plans in Cabinet.

She will today send a long-expected letter requesting a delay to EU Council President Donald Tusk, ahead of an EU summit tomorrow.

But her hopes of asking for a year or so's delay to frighten Brexiteer MPs into finally backing her deal backfired.

Last week she claimed "there will need to be a much longer extension" if MPs did not back a deal in the days before next Friday.

Yet ministers rounded on any prospect of a long delay yesterday in a stormy, 90-minute Brexit session of the Cabinet.

One, Andrea Leadsom, fumed: "This used to be the Cabinet that would deliver Brexit – and now from what I'm hearing, it's not."

Last night eight key Brexiteers dubbed the 'Pizza Club' held an urgent meeting in Parliament – including Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt, Playbook reported.

And ITV reported a delegation of Cabinet Brexiteers had intended to visit the PM this morning to voice their concerns.

This morning a Downing Street source indicated the Prime Minister had backed down.

The source said: "The PM won’t be asking for a long extension.

"There is a case for giving Parliament a bit more time to agree a way forward, but the people of this country have been waiting nearly three years now.

"They are fed up with Parliament’s failure to take a decision and the PM shares their frustration."

Ms Leadsom, who spoke up in yesterday's Cabinet, laid down the gauntlet to the Prime Minister.

She told LBC "it's absolutely essential we're out of the EU before the European elections" – which take place in just two months.

And she said it would be "extraordinary" if the UK failed to leave by that point. She added: "I’m quite sure it will only be a short extension."

She refused to comment on whether or not she made the comments attributed to her at Cabinet.

But she declared: "The PM's entire Cabinet needs to remain focused on getting us out of the EU."

Education Secretary Damian Hinds told Sky News Mrs May will be "asking for a short delay to get the deal agreed" and "this should be as short an extension as possible."

But Mrs May's climbdown prompted new fury among Remainers.

One minister told the BBC's Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg: "Weak, weak, weak. Substantially increases the risk of no deal.

"Her most craven surrender to the hardliners yet.

"She knows this is the wrong choice for the country but she’s putting her short term interests first."

Labour MP Jess Phillips said: "Each time the PM listens to the small force in her party and her imaginary friend the "British public" she mis-steps.

"I'll gladly introduce her and sit and have proper nuanced conversations with the actual public.

"They are considerably less bloody minded than she thinks."

Labour MP Angela Eagle tweeted: "Utterly irresponsible and unfit to be PM."

Theresa May will jet to Brussels tomorrow to thrash out the details of a possible delay with EU leaders.

But European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned a delay may only be agreed next week – less than four days before the UK is supposed to leave.

He told Germany's Deutschlandfunk radio today: "My view this morning at quarter past 8 is that we will not get this through this week and we will have to meet again next week."

Speaker John Bercow declared this week there must be a new offer from the EU before MPs can vote on the Brexit deal again.

But Mr Juncker said: "There will be no re-negotiations, no new negotiations, no additional guarantees in addition to those already given.

"We have intensively moved towards Britain, there can be no more."

Ms Leadsom today said the government will find "procedural ways" of holding another Brexit vote if there's enough support for it.

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