In his forthcoming memoirs, former Times editor Lord Rees-Mogg reveals that he once brought a peace offer from Egyptian president Anwar Sadat to Israeli premier Golda Meir but she rejected the deal in 1971 - two years before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War.

Her mistrust of the Egyptian leader was "her greatest mistake", Rees-Mogg reflected. "My inability to unlock her mind was certainly the greatest failure of my life."