The Latest: Czech parliament guarantees rights for Britons

The Latest on Britain’s exit from the European Union (all times local):

1:10 p.m.

The Czech Parliament’s lower house has approved a government plan to guarantee the near-term rights of British citizens in the event of a “no-deal” Brexit.

The plan means the roughly 8,000 Britons currently living in the country would retain their rights in the immediate aftermath of Brexit even if Britain crashes out of the EU in March with no deal.

They would retain basically the same rights as the citizens of EU countries for a transitional period until Dec. 31, 2020.

The upper house, the Senate, is also expected to approve it.

Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29. After the British lawmakers rejected the divorce agreement Prime Minister Theresa May negotiated with the bloc, the prospect of a “no-deal” Brexit has been raised.

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12 noon

The European Union is offering Britain an option to continue fishing in EU waters for the rest of the year in case of a no-deal Brexit, if Britain grants the same rights to EU fishermen.

The EU wants to mitigate the worst impact of a possible cliff-edge departure for Britain on March 29, and officials want to make sure that fishermen would not have to fundamentally change their decades-old fishing traditions overnight.

British and EU fishermen have long been fishing in each other’s waters since they are all EU waters. Britain’s departure could keep EU fishermen out and the same could happen to British boats in the waters of the 27 member states.

The EU Commission is also proposing financial compensation for EU fishermen if they find UK waters suddenly closed off.

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11:20 a.m.

Britain’s senior counter-terrorism police officer is warning of the dangers of leaving the European Union without a withdrawal deal in place.

Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said Wednesday that a “no-deal” Brexit that cut off Britain’s access to shared data and intelligence systems would leave both Britain and the EU in a “very bad place.”

Basu said the security threat would increase if Britain is not able to exchange data or biometrics on suspected criminals and terrorists as it currently does with EU nations.

Britain is scheduled to leave the EU bloc on March 29. A “no-deal” Brexit is possible because the British Parliament has rejected the arrangement the government negotiated with EU leaders.

Basu says a police team is working on contingency plans to handle a “no-deal” departure.

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10:45 a.m.

A senior British Cabinet minister says businesses need to prepare for the possibility the U.K. will leave the European Union in March without an exit deal, as a growing number of British firms say they are stockpiling goods or shifting operations overseas.

Last week British lawmakers threw out Prime Minister Theresa May’s EU divorce deal, and attempts to find a replacement are gridlocked. International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said Wednesday that “no deal is a possibility.”

Many business groups say a “no-deal” Brexit will cause economic chaos by imposing tariffs, customs checks and other barriers between the U.K. and the EU, its biggest trading partner.

Carolyn Fairbairn of the Confederation of British Industry says politicians must rule out a no-deal Brexit “to halt irreversible damage and restore business confidence.”