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@Dammit
I've been thinking about this recently.
Nipping around London I found that I was using the brake less and less- except in emergency situations.
I'd say now that on a standard journey I probably only use the brake to pop the rear wheel in the air at traffic lights and spin it round to get the pedal in the right place to start off when the lights change.
It's a pleasant challenge seeing how little I can use the brake- and the answer is 99% of the time.
However the 1% of the time when someone steps out in front of me from between parked cars, or a car cuts in front from the right hand lane as it suddenly decides to turn left that make me glad that I have it on the bike.
Could I skid in these situations? Of course- but using the brake gives more control, and I can always lock the rear wheel up to help if I am not stopping fast enough.
In essence- could I ride brakeless? Yes, do I want to? No.