No deal is the equivalent of us shooting ourselves in the head and the EU shooting themselves in the foot. We continue to retain it as an option in the vain hope that the EU will give us a better deal rather than shoot themselves in the foot. With no deal "off the table" we lose a bargaining chip, but it's not a chip that anybody on our side who cares about the economy, trade, business, jobs, their re-electability etc etc would ever want to play - the outcome would be catastrophic, and both sides know that.