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Theresa May's admission in Brussels that the Conservative backbenchers, who said the prime minister was "desperate" and "reneging on everything".
Her failure to deny reports could have been told that she would not be able to get away from it.
The prominent Brexiter Priti Patel said an extension would not be "in any way". "If the EU is refusing to help us solve the border issue now, why would it be another step to resolve it?" She wrote in a piece for the Guardian.
"I see no point in us building a bigger bridge to nowhere. Why would we extend the transition phase when we do not know where or what we're even transitioning to? "
A backstop is required to ensure there is a comprehensive deal in the world of trade in Europe. Theresa May has proposed to the EU that the whole of the UK would remain in the customs union after Brexit, but Brussels has said it needs more time to evaluate the proposal.
As a result, the EU insists on having its own backstop – the backstop to the backstop – which would mean Northern Ireland would remain in the single market and the customs union in the absence of a free trade deal, prompting fierce objections from Conservative hard Brexiters the DUP, which props up her government.
That prompted May to propose a country-wide alternative in which the whole of the UK would remain in parts of the customs union after Brexit.
"The EU still requires a backstop to the backstop" – effectively an insurance policy for the insurance policy. And they want this to be the Northern Ireland-only solution that they had previously proposed, "May told MPs.
Raising the stakes, the prime minister said, "We have been clear that we can not agree to anything that threatens the integrity of our United Kingdom," she added.
The former minister John Penrose, a former president of the Brexit European Research Group, said it was essential that the extension was not a "bridge to nowhere". He added: "There is a distinction between an implementation period and an extension to negotiations.
"If it is anything other than an agreed period of time, then people are going to question whether we will ever really leave. It kicks the road and is the beginning of sliding into not delivering what people voted for. "
Even though No 10 appealed to Tory MPs to keep "cool, calm heads" over the proposal, the anger in Westminster spread beyond Brexiters. Anna Soubry, an outspoken remainer, said May was "reneging on everything" that had previously been agreed.
One minister said they were dismayed at the stalemate, warning that they were dissatisfied with any carve-out for Northern Ireland. "Things are going badly wrong for Britain and things are not necessarily just going to be OK," they said.
"We could end up in a terrible state of affairs and we should be under the illusion that our party's long-term fate is inextricably linked with this approach to Brexit and the Prime Minister's mishandling of it."
Nick Boles, a former Tory Minister, described the issue as "desperate last move," suggesting that he was losing the confidence of his party with many MPs "close to despair" over his plans.
"It's a classic of negotiations that it keeps on thinking that one more concession is going to somehow [succeed], with one bound and she's free, and she's not going to be free, she's getting ever more trapped, "he said.
Boles, a close ally of the Brexit-backing environment secretary, Michael Gove, has suggested an alternative arrangement that would see a UK-style European Economic Area arrangement with the EU, which would act as a bridge to an eventual trade deal .
Tory sources said Boles had told ERG on Thursday, but it was unlikely to win support. "It is so obvious this is a potential get-out route for Gove," one MP said. "It's a pipe dream that we can leave with a soft Brexit and then toughen it up."
Other MPs, including cabinet ministers, urged restraint, and among the majority of usually loyal Tory backbenchers there is still a sense that the prime minister should be given the benefit of the doubt until December.
"It's any threat to the union that would be a real problem," another centrist Tory MP said. "And I think most of us could take a brief extension to transition, but anything beyond, say, six months would be difficult."
The justice secretary, David Gauke, said: "There is a danger at this stage of the world, and it is a step forward. people drop into the depths of despair. The answer is – this is going to be tough, there will be ups and downs. "
He criticized Tory colleagues who suggested tearing up what had already been agreed with the EU and starting again. It follows a letter from five former cabinet ministers, including Boris Johnson and David Davis, who urged May to reject both a Northern Ireland backstop and, crucially, an all-UK version.
"That's what inevitably happens in the future, but it's likely to be put at risk if they do that," Gauke said.
"We need to honor the referendum result and do so in a way that protects jobs, the economy and the integrity of the United Kingdom. There are some complexities in that, it's a process that we need to take a little bit of time to get right, which seems to be a perfectly sensible thing to do. "
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