We may be about to witness the biggest game of smoke and mirrors yet over Brexit. Boris Johnson and his crew of wreckers will claim that a deal is very very very close so please don't make us write that extension letter YET. ("Just a *few* more days!") Rebel Tories may go along.
Remember, all alternate options within Parliament (i.e. if we're not talking about the legal route) involve first putting together a majority of MPs in favour of *something else* (VONC, GNU, amendments etc.) If the rebel Tories won't play ball, that becomes almost impossible.
So even though the law demands that an extension be requested forthwith, political pressure may be such that the deadline is allowed to pass for doing so, bringing us that much closer to the 31 October cliff edge.
