Theresa May has signalled that she would quit as Prime Minister if Brexit were delayed beyond her requested extension date of Sunday June 30.

Her request came in a letter to Donald Tusk, the European Council President, precisely 1,000 days after the 2016 referendum, when, by a majority of 52 per cent to 48 per cent, the UK voted to quit the European Union.

During a fractious PMQs, Mrs May, who faced shouts of “resign” from opposition benches as Jeremy Corbyn accused her of causing a “full-scale national crisis,” made clear: “As Prime Minister, I am not prepared to delay Brexit any further than June 30."

Read more: Brexit live: France says UK will only get extension if PM can guarantee deal backing

Brussels sources suggested the European Commission would prefer an extended date of May 23, the first day of the European parliamentary elections.

No 10 made clear when Mrs May arrives at the European Council tomorrow she will make her case for a three-month delay “passionately”; she will need the unanimous approval from the EU27 to secure an extension.

One unconfirmed report in French news magazine Le Point suggested President Emmanuel Macron would argue against any postponement beyond Friday week, March 29.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the Commission President, whom the PM spoke to this morning, said that there would "probably" have to be another summit next week to finalise the decision if Mrs May was unable to show tomorrow that she had the support of Parliament for her plans.

He told German radio that a short extension would give the UK Parliament time to agree to the existing Withdrawal Agreement text but insisted there would be "no more negotiations".

"If that doesn't happen, and if Great Britain does not leave at the end of March, then we are, I am sorry to say, in the hands of God," declared Mr Juncker. "And even God sometimes reaches a limit to his patience," he added.

Read more: In full: PM's letter to Donald Tusk requesting Article 50 extension

If the EU27 were to approve the short delay, Mrs May will rush legislation through both Houses of Parliament next week to remove the March 29 date from Brexit laws.

She told MPs she intended to table her Withdrawal Agreement for a third time in the Commons in the hope of overturning massive defeats inflicted on it in January and March.

Aides declined to name a date for the third "meaningful vote" – or MV3 in Westminster parlance - but insisted it would happen "as soon as possible".

Brussels has made clear any extension of the Article 50 negotiation process beyond June would require the UK to take part in elections to the European Parliament in May; something which the PM said was in the interests neither of Britain nor the EU.

She told MPs: "The idea that three years after voting to leave the EU, the people of this country should be asked to elect a new set of MEPs is, I believe, unacceptable. It would be a failure to deliver on the referendum decision this House said it would deliver."

Read more: Nicola Sturgeon: Scotland 'is being shortchanged' over Brexit negotiations

The EU27 would not wish the UK to remain a member state beyond any extended legal cut-off date because if it did so, without having MEPs, then the bloc would be operating outwith EU treaties, which state that member states have a right to be democratically represented and it could mean any future decisions, such as on budgets, could be challenged in the courts.

This means that a further extension beyond an agreed date appears politically impossible; it could well mean that in a final vote MPs will be choosing between Mrs May’s deal or a no-deal Brexit. This prospect could only be stopped if MPs were able to muster a majority to come up with an alternative to the PM’s plan or scrapping Brexit altogether.

During Commons exchanges, the Labour leader highlighted how Mrs May’s plan to ask for a short extension to Brexit contradicted her de facto deputy, David Lidington, who, he explained, said: “’In the absence of a deal seeking such a short and critically one-off extension would be downright reckless and completely at odds with the position this House adopted only last night.’

“So who is downright reckless here, the Prime Minister ploughing on with an unachievable, unsupported deal or others in this House who want to achieve something serious and sensible to prevent the damage to the British economy, jobs and living standards all over this country.”

The PM insisted she did not want a long extension, which would result in “endless hours and days of this House carrying on contemplating its navel on Europe and failing to address the issues that matter to our constituents; schools and hospitals and security and jobs”.

To noisy barracking from opposition MPs, she went on: “This House has indulged itself on Europe for too long.”

After an intervention from the Speaker to calm things down, Mrs May resumed, saying: “It’s time for this House to determine it will deliver on Brexit for the British people. That’s what the British people deserve. They deserve better than this House has given them so far.”

Ian Blackford for the SNP accused the Government of bringing the country to “crisis and chaos” and also quizzed the PM about Mr Lidington’s “reckless” comment.

Noting how the Highland MP and his Nationalist colleagues wanted to revoke Brexit – to which Angus Brendan MacNeil shouted “correct” – Mrs May stressed that nearly three years on from the Brexit vote “it is time for the House to face that fact, face the consequences of its decisions, and deliver Brexit for the British people”.

The SNP leader accused the PM of once again acting in her party’s rather than the national interest and insisted “Scotland is watching…The people of Scotland deserve a choice on the future, and if Westminster fails, Scotland will act.”

Mr Corbyn had earlier accused Mrs May of "running down the clock" on Brexit, telling MPs: “This Government has led the country and themselves into crisis, chaos and division.

"We are still legally due to leave the European Union in nine days' time. Months of running down the clock and a concerted campaign of blackmail, bullying and bribery has failed to convince the House or the country that her deal is anything but a damaging national failure and should be rejected.

"If the Prime Minister cannot get changes to her deal, will she give the people a chance to reject the deal and change the Government?"

Peter Bone, the Tory Brexiteer, reflected a deal of unease on the Tory benches when he warned Mrs May she would be "betraying" the public if she continued to seek to delay Brexit. Last week, a majority of Conservative MPs voted against any extension.

He said: "If you continue to apply for an extension to Article 50 you will be betraying the British people. If you don't, you will be honouring their instruction. Prime Minister, it is entirely down to you. History will judge you at this moment. Prime Minister, which is it to be?"

In her letter to Mr Tusk, Mrs May said Mr Bercow's demand for a fundamental change to her motion had made it "impossible" to hold a third meaningful vote ahead of tomorrow’s summit.

But she indicated she believed it was possible to satisfy the Speaker's requirements by ensuring the European Council formally approved the documents agreed last week with Mr Juncker in Strasbourg.

She said she was also intending to bring forward domestic proposals to confirm previous commitments to protect the UK's internal market in response to concerns that the controversial backstop might drive a wedge between Northern Ireland and Britain.