Boris Johnson will send a letter to the EU asking for a Brexit delay if no deal is agreed by 19 October, according to government papers submitted to a Scottish court.
The document was revealed as campaigners sought a ruling forcing the PM to comply with the law.
Their QC said the submission contradicted statements by the prime minister last week in Parliament.
But Downing Street said the UK would still be leaving the EU on 31 October.
The so-called Benn Act – named after Labour MP Hilary Benn who spearheaded its passage into law – requires the government to request an extension to the 31 October Brexit deadline if a deal has not been signed off by Parliament by 19 October.
A senior Downing Street source said: “The government will comply with the Benn Act, which only imposes a very specific narrow duty concerning Parliament’s letter requesting a delay – drafted by an unknown subset of MPs and pro-EU campaigners – and which can be interpreted in
different ways.
“But the government is not prevented by the Act from doing other things that cause no delay, including other communications, private and public.
“People will have to wait to see how this is reconciled. The government is making its true position on delay known privately in Europe and this will become public soon.”
So there it is. In black and white. An undertaking that the prime minister accepts something that he has never publicly accepted before.
That if Parliament hasn’t approved a deal – or given the nod to no-deal – by 19 October, he will have to send a letter asking for an extension.
Ministers have previously said that they will abide by the Benn Act but also “test” it, leading to speculation that they were hunting for a loophole.
But don’t imagine that today’s news means Number 10 has given up on sticking to its 31 October deadline, deal or no deal.
In fact, some will suspect that the document submitted to the Court of Session is simply a way of discouraging the court from issuing an order that could have handed the power, of writing that letter, to someone else; a court clerk or the Cabinet Secretary.
And Downing Street is hardly trying to stymie the suspicion that they have something else up their sleeve.
The question is what?
It’s a question everyone in Westminster is asking.
The legal action has been initiated by businessman Dale Vince, QC Jo Maugham and SNP MP Joanna Cherry.
They want the Court of Session, Scotland’s highest court, to rule on the extent to which Mr Johnson is bound by the Benn Act.
Speaking outside the court in Edinburgh, Mr Maugham said: “Our concern has always been that this is not a prime minister who can be trusted.
“He is making contradictory statements and we do not trust that he will do what he has said to the court he will do. So we want to make the court to make orders obliging him to do it, and if he doesn’t then do it then he will face personal criminal consequences.”
Steve Baker, chairman of the European Research Group of Brexiteer Conservative MPs, said the government document changed nothing.
“All this means is that government will obey the law. It does not mean we will extend. It does not mean we will stay in the EU beyond 31 October. We will leave.”
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he did not want to “comment on court cases that are happening in the UK, they’ll play themselves out”.
He told a press conference in Denmark the EU would consider a request for a further Brexit extension if Mr Johnson asked for one, adding: “Certainly an extension would be better than a no deal”.
