U.K. lawmakers will get a take-it-or-leave-it vote on the final Brexit deal, with their choices limited to accepting the agreement or voting for a chaotic crashing out of the block.

And if the government fails to reach a deal, the U.K. will leave without consulting Parliament, Brexit Secretary David Davis said on Monday.

The twin announcements provoked jeers in Parliament as what started out as a concession to a restive House of Commons, was quickly revealed to be a meaningless gesture. Several lawmakers, including Labour’s Pat McFadden, said they would be voting with a gun to their heads.

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Further restricting lawmakers’ leeway in the final stages of Brexit, the government wants to write into law the date that Britain will leave. Designed as a concession to the most enthusiastic Brexit supporters in the divided Conservative Party, the proposal would mean there’s no way Britain could ask for an extension if talks fail to produce a deal.

Dominic Grieve, a former attorney general and colleague of Prime Minister Theresa May who is now opposing the government’s Brexit policy, called the proposal “thoroughly stupid” as he said it would tie the government’s hands in negotiations. Davis blamed Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the mechanism for departure, for why an extension would be difficult.

“The extension of article 50 can only be done by unanimity and that’s the weakness of it,” he said.

As uncertainty about future trade relations threatens jobs and investment, business leaders from both sides of the English Channel urged May on Monday to accelerate talks on Britain’s exit from the EU.

European business leaders are urging Britain to make concrete proposals on the so-called divorce issues so the negotiations can move forward. The EU has refused to discuss trade until there is agreement on Britain’s financial obligations, citizens’ rights and the Irish border.

May is walking a political tightrope, trying to appease both Brexit hardliners and those in her party who want to maintain close ties to the EU.

May had pledged to outline her hopes for a “bold and deep economic partnership” between Britain and the EU after Brexit. A statement from her office later said that May reassured industry groups with the oft-repeated sentiment that the U.K. was leaving the EU, not Europe, and expressed her commitment to giving businesses “the certainty they need by agreeing a time-limited implementation period as soon as possible.”

Industry groups from Germany, France, Britain and other EU countries deployed representatives to London amid concern that time is running out to ensure more than 550 billion pounds ($719 billion U.S.) of trade keeps flowing smoothly after the U.K. leaves the bloc in March 2019. They want a transitional period during which Britain would remain in the European single market and customs union so companies could adjust to the new relationship after Brexit.

“Business is extremely concerned with the slow pace of negotiations and the lack of progress,” said Emma Marcegaglia, president of BusinessEurope, an umbrella organization of business lobbies. “Business aims to avoid a cliff edge and therefore asks for a ‘status quo-like’ transitional arrangement with the U.K. staying in the customs union and the single market as this will best provide citizens and businesses with greater certainty.”

U.K lawmakers from both main parties have been pushing for Parliament to have a greater say in the process, with some tabling amendments to government legislation that aim to prevent Britain tumbling out of the trading bloc without a deal. That legislation goes to Parliament on Tuesday, when May’s minority administration will be tested.

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Davis was upbeat that a deal will get done and in good time to go to lawmakers. He hopes an agreement will be sealed by October 2018, giving time to Parliament in London and the European Parliament in Strasbourg to approve it. It will go to lawmakers in London as a bill.

With files from the Associated Press

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