Simon Heffer

Simon James Heffer (born 18 July 1960) is a British journalist and writer, noted for his right wing political views. He was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He rejoined "The Daily Telegraph" in October 2005 as a columnist and associate editor, having served as a columnist for the "Daily Mail" from 1995. Martin Newland, the "Telegraph's" editor at the time, described the newspaper as Heffer's "natural journalistic home."cite web | title=Columnist Simon Heffer to join The Daily Telegraph
work=Daily Telegraph | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/pressoffice/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/pressoffice/2005/09/19/pre20050919.xml | accessmonthday=5 November | accessyear=2006] On 23 May 2007 it was announced that he is to cease being the editor of the newspaper`s comment pages, though his position on the title otherwise remains as before.

Heffer has written biographies of the pamphleteer Thomas Carlyle, the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, and the politician Enoch Powell. Heffer is an admirer of traditionalist English composer George Lloyd,BBC Radio 3, 'Private Passions', broadcast on 5 November 2006.] long critically neglected, whom he came to know late in the composer's life.

Politics

Heffer is politically on the right, being very critical of the European Union and New Labour, whilst being supportive of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Heffer opposes almost all government intervention in the economy and is against any national minimum wage. He also supports the death penalty. He is socially conservative, having opposed the liberalisation of laws on abortion and divorce. [Heffer, Simon (2006), "Simon Heffer on Saturday", "The Daily Telegraph", 7 January 2006, London. Available at [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/01/07/do0701.xml&site=15&page=0] , accessed on 6 January 2007.] He has also written with pungency about the decline of tie-wearing among British men. Perhaps surprisingly, in the mid-1990s he was generally supportive of New Labour, due to his dissatisfaction with John Major and the Conservative Party at the time. Recently Heffer has written sympathetically of United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and Nigel Farage.See, for example, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/04/08/do0801.xml] and [http://www.ukip.org/ukip_news/gen12.php?t=1&id=2264] ] However, he has also described himself as a Gladstonian liberal.

Heffer believes that Christianity should have a strong role in shaping both the moral foundation of society and public policy, although he is an atheist. cite web | title=Stop apologising for being Christian
work=Daily Telegraph | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2005/12/21/do2101.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/12/21/ixportal.html | accessmonthday=21 December | accessyear=2005]

When the Home Office put Heffer on its Law and Order Task Force, left-wing politicians were concerned about the direction that criminal law reform might take, with human rights lawyer Baroness Kennedy saying that the government "had not just lost the plot but was handing the plotting over to their most feared critics."Helena Kennedy, "Just Law"]

In 2004, Heffer wrote the unsigned editorial in "The Spectator" critical of Liverpudlian "vicarious victimhood", for which Boris Johnson was forced to apologise to the city.

In 2006, Heffer sharply criticised the film "The Wind That Shakes The Barley", a movie by director Ken Loach about the Irish War of Independence [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/06/03/do0301.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2006/06/03/ixopinion.html] despite not having watched it, comparing the film to Hitler's Mein Kampf.

In 2008, Heffer called for the United Nations to be strengthened, stating that: "If the UN ceases to be regarded by the larger powers as a institution to secure the peace of the world and justice therein, then that holds out all sorts of potential dangers." [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/01/14/do1401.xml UK foreign interventions as a middling power - Telegraph ] ]

Quotations

*"Portugal has revealed itself to be little more than a banana republic through the handling of this case. Whether you have small children or not, you would be mad even to think of having a holiday there." [cite news
last = Heffer
first = Simon
title = Don't go to Portugal for your holiday
publisher = "The Daily Telegraph"
date = 5 January 2008
url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=U30IGBAQQ0I4XQFIQMGCFF4AVCBQUIV0?xml=/opinion/2008/01/05/do0501.xml
accessdate = 2008-01-05] Simon Heffer writing in "The Daily Telegraph" about the Case McCann, January 2008.

*"The evil that drug dealers do cannot be adequately punished under our present law; I would take a leaf out of China's book, and have them taken out and shot in the back of the head. That isn't going to happen. But using the laws we do have more effectively, applying them with zero tolerance, and making junkies pay - literally - for the damage they do to society would be a start. I fear, though, that it is already too late." [cite news
last = Heffer
first = Simon
title = Make junkies pay for hospital treatment
publisher = "The Daily Telegraph"
date = 12 January 2008
url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/01/12/do1201.xml
accessdate = 2008-01-12] Simon Heffer writing in "The Daily Telegraph" about drug policy, January 2008.

Publications

* Heffer, Simon, & Charles Moore (editors), "A Tory Seer: The Selected Journalism of T.E. Utley", London, 1989, ISBN 0-241-12728-9

* Heffer, Simon, "Moral Desperado: A Life of Thomas Carlyle", London, 1995.

* Heffer, Simon, "Power and Place: The Political Consequences of King Edward VII", London, 1998.

* Heffer, Simon, "Like The Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell", London, 1998. ISBN 0-297-84286-2

* Heffer, Simon, "Nor Shall My Sword: The Reinvention of England"," London, 1999.

* Heffer, Simon, "Vaughan Williams", London, 2000. ISBN 0-297-64398-3

References