RIGHT-WING writer Simon Heffer has emerged as the most likely author of the infamous Spectator leader article that landed editor Boris Johnson in trouble with the people of Liverpool.
Shadow Tory culture spokesman and Henley MP Mr Johnson is refusing to name the author of the article, insisting: "I am the editor and I commissioned the article and I take full responsibility for what was written in the Spectator."
But fellow London journalists are convinced the incendiary writing, which accused the people of Liverpool of being "hooked on grief", has Mr Heffer's fingerprints on it.
When confronted by the Daily Post last night, he declined an opportunity to deny responsibility for the offending article.
After days of telephoning Mr Heffer, who refused to return our calls, we tracked him down last night to his large detached Georgian home, which stands at the end of a gravel drive, near Colchester.
He answered the door to our reporter, but was as elusive as Mr Johnson about the authorship of the article. About the only thing he did confirm was what had become increasingly evident in recent days, the fact that Mr Johnson had not personally penned the piece.
Mr Heffer, 44, told the Daily Post: "Boris commissioned the piece so it is really up to him to comment on it."
When invited to comment on the Spectator article he said: "I'm not going to comment on a leader. You will have to get a comment from the editor."
Asked if he wrote the article, Mr Heffer refused to deny it, adding: "I'm not saying I did write it."
A number of other Spectator contributors have been discussed in recent days as contenders for the authorship of the piece, but the one name that has consistently come to the fore is that of Mr Heffer.
Sources close to him were reported yesterday as having confirmed that he did write the article, although they added that he had no plans to issue his own comment. His direct refusal to deny responsibility for the piece will only add fuel to the speculation.
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