“I think that at some point or other we either have to get a deal across the line or accept that we have to find an alternative if we want to avoid no deal on April 12, which I think at the moment is the most likely thing to happen,” Letwin, the architect of a series of votes on alternatives to Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, told BBC radio.

If Britain wants to hold a referendum or an election it would need to delay Brexit by at least several months but it is unclear if parliament would vote for such a long extension, Letwin said.