for me to say publicly that the MP who lunged at me was Sir Michael Fallon.

At the time, I was a 29-year-old junior political reporter at the Daily Mail. He was a Conservative backbencher in his 50s and, as a member of the Treasury select committee and a former minister under Margaret Thatcher and John Major, a useful contact to take out for lunch. As a political journalist, I went out for lunch with MPs as often as three times a week. It was part of the job. But, over the hundreds of these encounters over my 14 years in the lobby, this was the only time an MP crossed the line – and that is why I remember it so vividly.

We ate at Quirinale, an upmarket yetAs speculation mounts that the Syrian army is preparing for a Russia-backed "anti-terror operation" in Idlib, dubbed by one army officer as "the final battle," video has emerged of a convoy of Syrian Army troops heading towards the frontline.

As they passed through Maar Shahour village in Hama Governorate, soldiers rode on top of lorries carrying tanks, artillery and armored personnel carriers.

One army officer said his troops were ready for the "final battle" against militants in Idlib province.

This clip comes as Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned/asked the West not to intervene:

"I hope our Western partners will not give in to (rebel) provocations and will not obstruct an anti-terror operation" in Idlib, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference with his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir in Moscow.

Lavrov