Boris Johnson will ask for Brexit to be delayed if he fails to agree a deal this week

• Boris Johnson will ask for a Brexit delay this week if he fails to secure a deal.
• The UK's Brexit Secretary confirmed he would comply with legislation requiring him to seek a third extension.
• The admission comes as negotiators fight to secure a deal which could avoid a delay.
• However, EU sources suggest a delay is now inevitable, whether a deal is agreed in principle or not.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Boris Johnson will write to the EU requesting that Brexit is delayed, if he fails to agree a deal with the EU by Saturday, a senior member of his government has confirmed.

The prime minister has repeatedly insisted that there are "no circumstances" under which he would allow Brexit to be delayed, tweeting last week that there would be "no delay."

However, under the terms of a law passed by members of parliament last month, Johnson would be legally obliged to request a delay if he has failed to pass a deal by October 19.

Asked by a parliamentary committee on Wednesday whether the prime minister would request a delay if no deal is secured, the Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay conceded that he would.

"I can confirm as the prime minister has repeatedly set out that the government will comply with the law and secondly it will comply with undertakings given to the court in respect to the law," he said.

Pushed again on whether the prime minister would send the letter, he replied: "I confirm that the government will abide by what was set out."

Read more: Boris Johnson could offer the DUP 'billions' of pounds to support his Brexit deal

Government lawyers have previously acknowledged that Johnson would comply with the so-called Benn Act, which was passed by members of parliament last month in order to prevent the UK leaving the EU without a deal at the end of October.

Under the terms of the act, the prime minister must write to the EU no later than October 19 if he has failed to pass a House of Commons vote on a deal by that date.

The admission comes as talks with the EU continue in Brussels over whether a deal can be agreed in time to avoid another Brexit delay.

Negotiations continued until the early hours of this morning before resuming at 9 AM Brussels time.

Hopes of an imminent agreement were raised last night with reports that both sides were "closing in" on a deal.

However, government sources downplayed suggestions of an immediate breakthrough on Wednesday following talks with the Democratic Unionist Party, which props up Johnson's minority government.

The party is reportedly demanding "billions" of pounds in extra funding for Northern Ireland before they will back the deal.

Failure to secure the support of the DUP would dramatically decrease Johnson's hopes of passing any deal through parliament, where he currently has a majority of minus 45.

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