What ‘No-Deal Brexit’ Means and How It May Be Averted

With the U.K. set to leave the European Union next March, and more than 40 years’ worth of complex integration to unravel, there’s a real chance of a messy breakup. The Brexit deal that Prime Minister Theresa May has brought home looks unlikely to be accepted by Parliament. If lawmakers vote it down, the default option is that Britain crashes out into a legal limbo -- a no-deal Brexit. While the government prepares for that scenario, groups of politicians on all sides are plotting alternatives.

It means a U.K.-EU divorce with no agreement in place on how to continue doing business with each other. Absent a deal, various rules, permits and accords fall into limbo. Free trade between Britain and the EU will give way to basic World Trade Organization tariffs and become subject to border checks where now there are none.