Boris Johnson has written three letters to the EU: one asking for Brexit to be delayed, the second says the first is from parliament and not the government and the third asks for the extension not to be granted.
He was forced by law to send an extension request after his deal wasn't backed yesterday but he didn't sign it.
The government is now hoping Parliament will vote on his deal tomorrow, but Sky's political reporter Rob Powell says this may not happen.
Mr. Johnson - who has previously said he would rather die in a ditch than delay Brexit again - has rung European leaders to distance himself from the request, describing it as "parliament's letter, not my letter".
Warning that pushing the deadline back would be "deeply corrosive", Mr Johnson wrote: "I have made clear since becoming prime minister and made clear to parliament again today, my view, and the government's position, that a further extension would damage the interests of the UK and our EU partners, and the relationship between us."
Next week, the prime minister will introduce the legislation needed to put his Brexit deal into UK law, in the hope that a majority of MPs give their backing to his agreement so he can still meet his pledge to take the country out of the EU on 31 October.
