Hard Brexit likely on the card as calendar moving closer to April 12

A no-deal Brexit on April 12 is the most likely scenario right now for Britain, Conservative Party lawmaker Oliver Letwin said on Thursday.

"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.