EU ponders UK request for Brexit extension

Johnson had previously said he would rather be "dead in a ditch" than ask for any extension to the Oct 31 deadline.

But he was compelled, by a law passed last month by opponents, to send a letter to the bloc asking to push back the deadline to Jan 31 after lawmakers thwarted his attempt to pass his EU divorce deal on Saturday.

In an extraordinary step that indicates the extent of the Brexit fever gripping the United Kingdom, Johnson sent a total of three letters to Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council.

First, a brief cover note from Britain's EU envoy explaining that the government was simply complying with that law; second, an unsigned photocopy of the text that the law, known as the Benn Act, forced him to write; and a third letter in which Johnson said that he did not want an extension.

"I have made clear since becoming Prime Minister and made clear to parliament again today, my view, and the Government's position, that a further extension would damage the interests of the UK and our EU partners, and the relationship between us," Johnson said in the third letter which was signed "Boris Johnson".

Johnson, for whom delivering Brexit is key to his plan to hold an early election, said he was confident that the process of getting the Brexit legislation through Britain's parliament would be completed before Oct 31, according to the letter.