The amour propre of Ted Heath was legendary. In death as in life, he has left £5m for the preservation of his “historic” home. Hmmm, “visit historic Arundells, seat of the man who surrendered British sovereignty without a fight.” Not sure it’s worth preserving.

Heath’s five million quid was amassed in no small way as a consequence of his closeness to the Chinese regime, which he continued to defend in the aftermath of Tiananmen Square. Of the Chinese regime’s decision to put down the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in 1989, he said: “There was a crisis after a month in which the civil authorities had been defied. They took action. Very well.” Nor should we forget his mediation with Saddam Hussein which also attracted widespread criticism. Bizarrely, the occasional honorarium from the Moonies for appearing at their conferences helped fill the coffers.