Simon Heffer
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Articles by Simon Heffer
Why British politics were just as bad in the Sixties
Simon Heffer Mon, October 12, 2026 at 12:35 PM EDT 8 min read Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Add Yahoo on Google Both the Beatles' impact on pop culture and Harold Wilson's political legacy are explored in Deep into the Sixties (pictured in 1964) - Gab Archive/Redferns Deep into the Sixties covers just 18 months: from Churchill's funeral on January 30, 1965 to England's football World Cup victory on July 30, 1966.
France is flirting dangerously with the end of capitalism
Never in the 68 years of the French Fifth Republic has a presidential election – the first round of which is barely six months away – been preceded by such an outbreak of anarchy as witnessed in recent days. France's secondary education system is a mess , its clients have revolted, and the government of Sébastien Lecornu, Emmanuel Macron 's latest reluctant prime minister, hasn't a clue what to do. Plenty of money is spent on French schools, but is spent badly, as state systems do.
France is flirting dangerously with the end of capitalism
Never in the 68 years of the French Fifth Republic has a presidential election – the first round of which is barely six months away – been preceded by such an outbreak of anarchy as witnessed in recent days. France's secondary education system is a mess, its clients have revolted, and the government of Sébastien Lecornu, Emmanuel Macron's latest reluctant prime minister, hasn't a clue what to do. Plenty of money is spent on French schools, but is spent badly, as state systems do.
The tortured composer who has been cruelly airbrushed from history
Some fine composers go missing after their deaths , partly because they can no longer promote their music, or partly because they pass out of fashion. British ones, perhaps because of the – wrongly – perceived insularity of their musical idiom, seem especially vulnerable: it even happened to the man now widely considered our greatest composer, Vaughan Williams, who with the notable exception of his centenary year in 1972 was in short supply for about 30 years after his death in 1958.
I begged Jeffrey Archer to plead guilty, but he never listened
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I begged my friend Jeffrey Archer to plead guilty – he never listened
I first met Jeffrey Archer the best part of 40 years ago: from memory, it was at a by-election, into which he had been parachuted to boost Conservative morale, rallying the party on behalf of his beloved Margaret Thatcher.
Why Britain and Germany are bound by blood
It is around 1,500 years since the inhabitants of what is now northern Germany and southern Denmark – Angles and Saxons, and the odd wandering Jute – settled in what is now England. The DNA testing popular among internet-based amateur genealogists confirms just how many in these islands have Anglo-Saxon ancestry. So it is not surprising that a book focusing on the relationship between Britain and Germany should be so relevant.
The BBC once made great contributions to our culture, but it’s time for it to go
This column seeks to celebrate culture and the arts, and to point readers towards the less obvious. But I regret that this column is about something very obvious, whose celebration of culture and the arts seems increasingly to rely on loose definitions of celebration, culture and the arts. I refer to the BBC. It pains me to criticise the BBC, which marks its centenary as a corporation in three months’ time.
The Nazi general who saved British aristocrats’ lives – or did he?
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The Nazi general who saved British aristocrats’ lives – or did he?
One publishing trend is to give books titles that don’t bear out what their pages contain. Another is, and has for many years been, the devotion to what might disparagingly be termed “Nazi porn”: a steady flow of books about almost any aspect of Adolf Hitler and the carnage he precipitated. The sheer ghastliness of the Second World War, the loathsomeness of the enemy, the heartwarming stories of Allied heroism – they never cease to shock, thrill and, above all, sell.
Lincoln Cathedral was ripped in half by an earthquake – but it wasn’t all bad
Lincoln Cathedral is a magnificent sight and a stunning work of art, and a building with a remarkable history. The original minster was begun in 1072, six years after the Conquest: Lincoln had been an important city since Roman times because of its position on top of a great hill commanding mostly flat country, and the Normans quickly put their mark on it. That church took 20 years to build and would be subject to two serious misfortunes.
No one wants François Hollande to return as president of France
opinion The Socialist is reportedly considering a running in 2027 During his term as president François Hollande was known as ‘Monsieur Flanby’ after a popular caramel custard dessert An amusement of the French presidential election system – and, sometimes, if you didn’t laugh, you would cry – is the ragtag and bobtail who put themselves forward as candidates, all but two of whom are eliminated in the first round.
Antonia Romeo has become too big for her boots
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Antonia Romeo has become too big for her boots
Recently Dame Antonia Romeo, Cabinet Secretary since Sir Keir Starmer threw out her predecessor, set out some long-winded objectives for the Civil Service. The old maxim of “civil servants advise, ministers decide” is no longer, apparently, sufficient in the age of what Lord Gove famously christened “the blob”. The Civil Service is uncomfortably powerful after decades of compensating for the inadequacies of generations of half-witted ministers.
Antonia Romeo has become too big for her boots
Recently Dame Antonia Romeo, Cabinet Secretary since Sir Keir Starmer threw out her predecessor, set out some long-winded objectives for the Civil Service. The old maxim of "civil servants advise, ministers decide" is no longer, apparently, sufficient in the age of what Lord Gove famously christened "the blob". The Civil Service is uncomfortably powerful after decades of compensating for the inadequacies of generations of half-witted ministers.
There’s nothing more rewarding than a good biography
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The cult of Burnham is already falling apart
When he met his parliamentary party for a chat last week, our newish Prime Minister crowed that he had served longer in Downing Street than the lettuce. It was a reference to the excellent tabloid joke about Liz Truss expiring before the eat-by date of that particular foodstuff, when lasting only 49 days as prime minister. Clearly, Mr Burnham will be around for a while yet; but the shine is coming off.
The cult of Burnham is already falling apart
When he met his parliamentary party for a chat last week, our newish Prime Minister crowed that he had served longer in Downing Street than the lettuce. It was a reference to the excellent tabloid joke about Liz Truss expiring before the eat-by date of that particular foodstuff, when lasting only 49 days as prime minister. Clearly, Mr Burnham will be around for a while yet; but the shine is coming off.
Britain’s abandonment of the white working class is a recipe for anarchy
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Britain’s abandonment of the white working class is a recipe for anarchy
Almost every town, however affluent, has its rough areas or sink estates. The image projected by Middlesbrough over the last week or so, however, is that the whole town is in the tank.
In times of crisis France always turns to de Gaulle
Columnist Simon Heffer considers the success of a new film on the wartime figurehead France's Fifth Republic was established by Charles de Gaulle after the Liberation French cinemas were packed out this summer by audiences lapping up a two-part film history of the wartime exploits of General de Gaulle, directed by Antonin Baudry. I have seen only the first part – La Bataille de Gaulle: L’Age de fer – which takes the story to early 1943, just after the assassination of Admiral Darlan in Algiers.
Historians should stop to reflect. Why won’t Anthony Seldon?
A benefit of writing contemporary history is that the actors are around to talk to you. Anthony Seldon and Tom Egerton, authors of Sunak at 10, an exhaustive investigation into the unfortunate 20-month premiership of poor old Rishi Sunak, duly claim to have conducted 200 interviews in the process of writing their book. The upside, to a point, is the deluge of facts and anecdote they offer to their readers. There is, however, a major downside.
Why would the rich give money to Labour? Kemi’s Tories are the only option
John Caudwell, a telecoms businessman who for some reason switched his support to Labour before the last election, says he is considering re-embracing the Conservatives because of disenchantment with the Burnham administration's policies, which he calls "piffle". He says Kemi Badenoch leads "the only electable party". He is right. The mystery is why he, or any other entrepreneur, should have wanted to bankroll the party of anti-capitalism in the first place.
The brilliant British artist who vanished in the Second World War
Eric Ravilious had such an influence on British culture in the 1930s as a painter, illustrator and, perhaps most memorably, master of the woodcut that there seems in retrospect a horrible inevitability about his not surviving the Second World War. He was a member of Kenneth Clark's War Artists scheme, which had three main purposes.
The brilliant British artist who vanished in the Second World War
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No Test cricket during the peak of summer is madness
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No Test cricket during the peak of summer is madness
Have you, like me, noticed that something many of us know and love is missing from our summer – a summer of unblemished weather, when there is as much chance of Gianni Infantino taking a vow of poverty as there is of rain stopping play? I refer to red-ball cricket, that staple of high summers since the mid-Victorian age, but now regarded as so unspeakably boring and irrelevant that it must play second fiddle to the ludicrous Hundred.
The money’s now on Marine Le Pen in France's 2027 race
Comment Columnist Simon Heffer looks ahead to next year's presidential election Marine Le Pen’s re-entry into the lists appears to have discombobulated the French political establishment The matter seemed cut and dried. Banned from seeking public office for five years, Marine Le Pen would not be contesting the 2027 French presidential election.
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Bad universities must be allowed to fail – not be propped up by Labour
In the weeks since the House of Commons' education committee warned the Government that perhaps two dozen British universities were in danger of insolvency, and that there was no plan to deal with any such institution that did go bust, the cries from institutions themselves about the danger they fear they are in has become ever louder. Many have already made cuts to staff and courses; for some, their very existence is now at issue. It is deemed an outrage to criticise our universities.
The Alain Delon film that is still disturbing (and isn’t Plein soleil)
Jean Gabin and Alain Delon represent two distinct generations of French actors and, more generally, two very different approaches to film. Gabin starred in some of the earliest French talkies in the 1930s. By the Second World War, he had appeared in some of the greatest films in French cinema, including La Grande Illusion and Quai des brumes: little of comparable quality was being made in England or Hollywood at the time.
This London society house was crucial to the war effort. Now you can go inside
When I had the privilege to edit the unexpurgated version of Henry “Chips” Channon's diaries, I was struck by the frequency with which, in the 1920s and 1930s, he could be found at Trent Park, a “palace” on the outskirts of London owned by his fellow Conservative MP, the exotic baronet Sir Philip Sassoon .
This London society house was crucial to the war effort. Now you can go inside
When I had the privilege to edit the unexpurgated version of Henry "Chips" Channon's diaries,I was struck by the frequency with which, in the 1920s and 1930s, he could be found at Trent Park, a "palace" on the outskirts of London owned by his fellow Conservative MP, the exotic baronet Sir Philip Sassoon.
Beware the sleepy village taking up the mantle of Passport to Pimlico
In the late 1940s creative types who had instinctively supported Labour at the 1945 general election – because then, as now, dressing to the left is what most creative types do, perhaps because of their disconnection from the real world – began to have what we now call buyers' remorse. They had expected the New Jerusalem. Instead, they were given relentless austerity, a plunging currency, massively high taxation, and no end in sight to rationing.
Burnham’s problem is that he believes his own publicity
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Burnham’s problem is that he believes his own publicity
Hearing Andy Burnham's speech to his swooning party on Friday, accepting its massive endorsement of him as leader and Prime Minister designate, one witnessed a phenomenon rampant in the digital age: the man who unquestioningly believes his own publicity. On his X feed, Mr Burnham has himself pumped out much about the wonder of him, with an undercurrent of what a genial, approachable, clever chap he is.
Why David Lammy should be the first person to be axed by Burnham
There are troubled days ahead for Cabinet ministers. Perhaps some true believers have been tipped off by the Leader-in-Waiting that their futures are secure: but most haven't a clue whether they are to be fired, or just moved elsewhere.
Why David Lammy should be the first person to be axed by Burnham
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If Norway can be proud of the Vikings, why are England embarrassed by our history?
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Norway embrace pillaging Vikings, so why are we embarrassed by our history?
However hard those of us who know nothing about football have tried to pretend the World Cup is not happening, one or two aspects of it have proved unavoidable. On the minus side there was the outrageous deal between Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, and Donald Trump to essentially revoke a red card for a key American player. On the plus side was the ensuing heavy defeat for the United States team which featured that player, proving the old adage that cheats never prosper.
Farage's Clacton reckoning Are voters being trifled with?
Peak Farage? (Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty) BrexitclactonNigel FarageReformsleaze Prefer us on Google In politics, triumph and tragedy run close together. When Nigel Farage decided to resign from parliament and force a by-election in Clacton he clearly thought he had pulled a masterstroke against the political establishment and mass media that are mostly hostile to him. As things stand, however, none of the three main parties is standing against him.
Burnham will soon be just as loathed as Starmer
Even some Labour supporters who wanted shot of the hapless Sir Keir Starmer, and have flocked to Andy Burnham, quietly express reservations about the difficulties ahead. Some winced when he refused to take questions from the media after his fatuous devolution speech last Monday. Others note that his promises – such as finding more money for defence without attacking Labour's benefit-dependent clientele by imposing "crude" welfare cuts – will require some unpleasantness if they are to be kept.
Hollywood's Second World War films were mostly rubbish – this one stopped the rot
There is a distinguished tradition of the British being rather sniffy about American films depicting the Second World War . It started with Objective, Burma! , a ludicrous 1945 film starring Errol Flynn (who should have known better) that showed Americans wiping the Japanese off the face of Burma. In fact, an estimated 90 per cent of troops in that theatre were British or Commonwealth. When it was shown in London shortly after VJ day, protests became so violent that the film was withdrawn.
Hollywood’s Second World War films were mostly rubbish – this one stopped the rot
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A third world war looms. Can this ex-Tory MP save us?
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A Third World War looms. Can this ex-Tory MP save us?
Who remembers General Sir John Hackett? He was a distinguished soldier who in retirement wrote two popular novels, enjoyed by the generation that grew up on Commando comics: The Third World War (1978) and, on the Hollywood principle that no successful film should lack a sequel, The Third World War: The Untold Story (1982). The premise was that Nato and the Warsaw Pact (remember that, too?) fought each other in 1985.
A third world war looms. Can this ex-Tory MP save us?
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The cult of Andy Burnham is sinister and un-British
The cult of Andy Burnham is sinister and un-British Politics isn't a game, but Burnham appears only too happy to play - Yui Mok/PA Wire Memories were stirred last week of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, the Korean Christian convert who claimed to be the Messiah. The cult around him appears something of a template for that around Andy Burnham, who unless fate takes an interesting turn will soon become our prime minister.
How we lost the art of getting stuff done
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How sticking-plaster Britain lost the art of getting stuff done
The Keir Starmer ministry is dying – barring unforeseen developments, the Andy Burnham one will shortly be born. As a senior Labour figure told me just before the by-election that returned Burnham to Parliament: "We will get rid of a man who believes in nothing and replace him with another man who believes in nothing." That may be so.
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