LONDON: Prime Minister Theresa May told rebels in her divided party that if they torpedoed her Brexit deal then the United Kingdom would leave the EU without any agreement, a scenario the IMF said would make the country much poorer.

The United Kingdom is due to leave the EU on March 29 and yet little is clear. So far, no full exit agreement has been reached and some rebels in May’s Conservative Party have threatened to vote down a deal if she clinches one.

The fate of May’s government and her Brexit plan is in doubt because it is unclear whether she can command the 320 votes she needs in the House of Commons, the lower house of the British parliament, to approve a deal.

“I think that the alternative to that will be not having a deal,” May told BBC TV, adding she was confident of getting a good agreement she thought parliament would ultimately approve.

Recent signals from Brussels have buoyed hopes that the United Kingdom and the EU can agree and approve a proper divorce arrangement before it leaves, though the sides are still divided on about one fifth of the detail of a deal.

But many business chiefs and investors fear politics could scupper an agreement, thrusting both the EU and the United Kingdom into a “no-deal” Brexit that they say would weaken the West, panic financial markets and block the arteries of trade.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said on Sunday that as Britain now faces a choice between a bad Brexit deal or a damaging “no-deal” Brexit, voters should be given another referendum.

With May’s plans in doubt, many British ministers have outlined the damage that they say a disorderly “no-deal” Brexit would do to the world’s fifth-largest economy and its reputation as a politically stable haven for investment.

Supporters of Brexit, who admit there may be some short term instability, say some British ministers and business chiefs are spreading scare stories about the impact of a “no-deal” Brexit in an attempt to rally support behind May’s plans.

The rival tipped by bookmakers to succeed May, Boris Johnson, attacked May’s Brexit plans, known as Chequers after the country house where they were hashed out in July.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2018