An important and sobering thread. A govt that has inhaled its own propaganda on Johnson's Brexit deal - that has told the electorate it won a great victory by thumping its chest, burning the life-boats & waiting for the EU to fold - will find it very hard to ask for an extension.
This, I think, is the key point. Asking for an extension means admitting to the public that a cliff-edge Brexit would be economically destructive - and Johnson's whole strategy has been to ride up to that cliff-edge & sound positively excited about jumping
The govt has persistently played down the costs of "No Deal", relabelling it "WTO terms" or "an Australia-style deal", inventing imaginary GATT clauses & insisting "we hold all the cards". Asking for an extension, to avoid an outcome they said was fine, will be all but impossible
