Prime Minister Boris Johnson has long argued that Brexit will let Britain "take back control" from the European Union.
On Wednesday, Mr Johnson's future, and his country's, rested on a decision from Brussels about whether the bloc will delay the UK's scheduled departure to prevent a chaotic no-deal exit in just eight days.
"I don't think the people of this country want a delay. I don't want a delay," Mr Johnson said.
But a postponement appeared inevitable after British lawmakers blocked the prime minister's attempt on Tuesday to fast-track his Brexit bill through Parliament so that the UK can leave the bloc as scheduled on 31 October.
The decision means the UK is almost certain to miss that deadline and leaves Mr Johnson with two options.
He can try again to pass the stalled deal, or he can seek an early election that could break Britain's Brexit impasse.
Both courses depend on the EU's response to the UK's request for a three-month delay.
The request was ordered by Parliament to avert the economic damage that could come from a no-deal exit and made, grudgingly, by Mr Johnson on Saturday.
"Alas, we cannot now know what the EU will do in response to the request from Parliament - I stress it wasn't my request - to ask for a delay," Mr Johnson said.
"I will be studying their reaction very closely to see how we proceed."
European Council President Donald Tusk said in a tweet that because of Tuesday's votes in London he would recommend that the other 27 EU nations grant Britain a delay.
European Parliament President David Sassoli echoed that sentiment, saying that European leaders should accept the Brexit extension because that will "allow the United Kingdom to clarify its position and the European Parliament to exercise its role."
The bloc's chief Brexit official, Guy Verhofstadt, agreed, saying a three-month flexible extension was needed to give European Parliament members time to check the details of the withdrawal agreement.
Mr Johnson won a major parliamentary victory on Tuesday when lawmakers backed his Brexit plan in principle, voting 329-299 to pass a bill to implement the divorce agreement that Johnson struck with the EU last week.
But minutes later, parliament rejected his fast-track timetable by a vote of 322-308, saying they needed more time to scrutinise the bill.
Without speedy passage of the bill, Britain won't be able to make an orderly exit from the bloc on 31 October, a central vow of Mr Johnson's 3-month-old Conservative administration.
House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg conceded that "it is very hard to see how it is possible" to leave the EU with a deal by that deadline.
In London, talk quickly shifted on Wednesday to holding an early election, which could give the Conservatives a majority in Parliament, allowing Mr Johnson to push through his plans.
British Justice Secretary Robert Buckland told the BBC that Parliament's failure to break the logjam means "we are left with the option of a general election... That seems to me to be the only way to break this impasse."
Britain's next scheduled election is in 2022.
If Mr Johnson wants an early election, he needs to win a vote in Parliament calling for one, or lose a no-confidence vote, which so far opposition parties have refused to call.
The opposition Labour Party said it would "support a general election when the threat of a no-deal crash-out is off the table."
That could come if the EU formally offers an extension in the next few days.
