Remain Tory MPs will meet on Thursday with senior members of Emmanuel Macron's government to discuss extending Article 50 as a path to a second referendum, The Telegraph can reveal.

Dominic Grieve, the former Attorney General, will hold a meeting with Nathalie Loiseau, the French Europe minister, and other senior French politicians in his office.

It came as Nick Boles and Oliver Letwin, two Tory MPs pushing for a softer Brexit, held a meeting with Jeremy Corbyn to discuss their plans.

They have backed calls for a Norway-style Brexit - described as "Common Market 2.0 - that would see Britain stay inside the European Economic Area after Brexit. They are understood to have been encouraged by their discussions with the Labour leader.

Mr Boles said: "Oliver Letwin and I were happy to join Lucy Powell and Stephen Kinnock [Labour MPs] in this meeting with Jeremy Corbyn to discuss our Common Market 2.0 proposal.