EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier | Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP via Getty Images Michel Barnier: Theresa May ‘never’ threatened EU with no-deal Brexit UK will have to ‘face the consequences’ if it leaves without a deal on October 31, EU’s chief negotiator warns.

British Prime Minister Theresa May "never" attempted to threaten the EU with a no-deal Brexit during divorce negotiations, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told the BBC's Panorama program.

Britain will have to "face the consequences" if it can't agree to May's Withdrawal Agreement, Barnier said in the interview, which will be broadcast in full this evening but was trailed on the BBC's Today program Thursday morning.

Barnier said May's deal, which has been rejected three times by the U.K. parliament, is still the "only way to leave the EU in an orderly manner."

Responding to Barnier's comments in a separate interview on the Today program Thursday morning, Jeremy Hunt, the U.K. foreign secretary and a contender to replace May as the head of the Conservative Party and Britain's next prime minister, said no-deal Brexit is a credible threat.

Hunt added that he shares Barnier's frustration with the Brexit process, but a renegotiation of May's deal was necessary to get through the impasse.

Also speaking to the Today program Thursday morning, Nathalie Loiseau, a member of the European Parliament from France and the country's former Europe minister, echoed Barnier's comments.

Asked whether France would allow another Brexit extension, Loiseau said that would require "a huge political change" in the U.K. "It could be a People's Vote, it could be general elections. But if it's just about 'let's think about the deal which is on the table for months' ... it's the only possible deal."

Loiseau added: "It's about time that you all make a choice. I think we have been extremely patient ... Please tell us, do you want to stay or do you want to leave? ... If you want to leave, you have two options, you leave with the deal on the table or you leave with no deal. Both have consequences. It is your choice to make. Please take a decision."