Tony Blair personally urged the EU's chief negotiator to delay Brexit beyond March 29 as Theresa May was insisting to European leaders that she wanted the UK to leave on time, The Telegraph can disclose.

The former prime minister held a private meeting with Michel Barnier in February in which he declared that an extension of the Article 50 notice period would "provide the time required" for "clarifying" the type of relationship Britain wanted with the EU. At the time he was leading calls for a second referendum.

Mr Blair's intervention, at a one-to-one meeting in Munich, came as Mrs May was urging EU leaders to offer concessions that would allow the UK to leave on its intended exit date of March 29.

Last night Liam Fox, who was trade secretary at the time, said: "It's clear that all parts of the Remain resistance were deployed to try and thwart the democratic result of the referendum. Their hope is that if they delay enough then we won't leave."

The meeting was arranged at Mr Blair's request, after he sought a similar "private" conversation last year. The pair met at the Munich security conference on February 16.