Simon Heffer
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Simon James Heffer (born July 18, 1960) is an English journalist and writer. He was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School (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."[1]
He has written biographies of the pamphleteer Thomas Carlyle, the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, and the politician Enoch Powell, whose concern with immigration is reflected in Heffer's own views on this subject, and is an admirer of little-known English composer George Lloyd.[2]
His stance is right wing, hostile towards the EU and New Labour, whilst being supportive of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the United Kingdom's relationship with the USA (culturally, however, he is of the Americosceptic Old Right rather than the Americophile New Right, as can be seen through his criticism of the "hideous pop music" liked by David Cameron). Perhaps surprisingly, in the mid-1990s he was generally supportive of New Labour, due to his dissatisfaction with John Major and the Conservative Party. Recently Heffer has shown sympathy for UKIP and Nigel Farage.
Heffer believes that Christianity should have a strong role in shaping both the moral foundation of society and public policy, although he is himself a self-described atheist.[3]
When the Home Office put Heffer on its Law and Order Task Force, liberal politicians were concerned about the direction that criminal law reform might take, with leading 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."
In 2006, Heffer sharply criticised the movie The Wind That Shakes The Barley, a movie by director Ken Loach about the Irish War of Independence. As Heffer had not seen the movie and criticised it for its portrayal of the Irish war, he became the target of some controversy.[1]
[edit] 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, Vaughan Williams, London, 2000. ISBN 0-297-64398-3
[edit] References
- ^ Columnist Simon Heffer to join The Daily Telegraph. Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 5 November 2006.
- ^ BBC Radio 3, 'Private Passions', broadcast on the 5th of November 2006.
- ^ Stop apologising for being Christian. Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 21 December 2005.
