Tory ministers today declared they are ramping up plans for a no-deal Brexit as they insisted Britain will still leave the EU on October 31.
Michael Gove made the bullish claim despite Boris Johnson being forced to request a three-month delay from EU leaders just hours earlier.
The Prime Minister last night sent a a legally-required request to the EU to delay until January 31, deal or no deal, after he lost a vote in Parliament.
But and sent a second signed note which branded an extension "corrosive".
Meanwhile the PM is now racing to hold a fresh vote on his Brexit deal and get a Bill through the Commons to pass it into law in time for Halloween .
If the Bill does not get through, and European leaders cave to Mr Johnson's second letter by refusing to delay Brexit, Britain still risks no-deal next Thursday.
Today Mr Gove - who leads no-deal planning - announced no-deal backup plan Operation Yellowhammer is being "triggered".
And he led a Sunday meeting of the weekday no-deal planning 'XO' committee in Whitehall.
The truth is Operation Yellowhammer is not simply 'triggered' in one go - it is a multi-layered plan that has several elements.
Whitehall sources insisted today that there was some substance behind Michael Gove's statement, but they couldn't specify what that actually was.
Mr Gove told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday: "We are going to leave by October 31. We have the means and the ability to do so."
He added: "The risk of leaving without a deal has actually increased because we cannot guarantee that the European Council will grant an extension.
"And that is why I will, later today, be chairing a Cabinet committee meeting, extraordinarily on a Sunday, in order to ensure that the next stage of our exit preparations and our preparedness for no-deal is accelerated.
"It means that we are triggering Operation Yellowhammer.
"It means that we are preparing to ensure that, if no extension is granted, we have done everything possible in order to prepare to leave without a deal."
Boris Johnson still faces a knife-edge vote, with only a few MPs in play one way or the other, on whether to approve the Brexit deal he won with Brussels.
Labour and the DUP rejected the deal for creating a customs border down the Irish Sea and watering down pledges on workers' rights.
But a handful of Labour backbenchers were won over after the PM made a non-legally-binding promise to improve workers' rights later down the line.
And hard Brexiteer Tory 'Spartans' have mostly been won over with the promise the deal can "get Brexit done".
Ministers will try to hold a "meaningful vote" tomorrow on the Brexit deal to give a clear indication which way it will go.
Then on Tuesday they will start debating the full-blown Withdrawal Agreement Bill that encodes it into law.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "We seem to have the numbers in the House of Commons.
"A lot of people say 'Get this done and move on'."
Former Cabinet minister Amber Rudd, who quit the Tory whip, said she would back Mr Johnson's deal.
And so did Oliver Letwin, the ousted Tory who led yesterday's successful bid to delay the October 31 Brexit date.
