[Diggers350] Corbyn hits back at Rayners war on allotments
Tony Gosling
tony at cultureshop.org.uk
Sun Aug 10 23:23:08 BST 2025
Corbyn hits back at Rayners war on allotments
https://tlio.org.uk/diggers-letter-corbyn-rayner-allotments/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/08/05/corbyn-hits-back-rayner-war-allotments/
https://archive.is/Ke7oe
Former Labour leader and vegetable-growing fan
accuses Housing Secretary of trying to put a
nail in the coffin of a long British tradition
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/t/tk-to/tony-diver/>Tony
Diver Associate Political Editor
Related Topics
* <https://www.telegraph.co.uk/jeremy-corbyn/>Jeremy Corbyn,
* <https://www.telegraph.co.uk/allotments/>Allotments,
*
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fruit-and-vegetables/>Fruit and vegetables,
* <https://www.telegraph.co.uk/angela-rayner/>Angela Rayner,
* <https://www.telegraph.co.uk/housing-crisis/>Housing crisis,
* <https://www.telegraph.co.uk/labour-party/>Labour Party
05 August 2025 6:00am BST
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/08/05/corbyn-hits-back-rayner-war-allotments/#comment>1212
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/jeremy-corbyn/>Jeremy
Corbyn has accused
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/angela-rayner/>Angela
Rayner of hammering a nail in the coffin of
community allotments after
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/02/rayner-declares-war-on-allotments/>she
said councils could sell them off to raise money.
[]
https://archive.is/Ke7oe
The former Labour leader criticised his former
colleague after The Telegraph revealed she had
agreed for eight
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/4699817/Allotments-a-very-British-passion.html>allotments
across England to be sold since last years general election.
Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Corbyn said
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/04/rayners-war-on-allotments-is-slowly-killing-britains-beauty/>the
decision would fill many with deep dismay and
accused Ms Rayner of making the future of these
precious spaces even more perilous.
Praising the Diggers, English Civil War
dissidents who sought common ownership of land,
he said: Is this government going to put the
nail in the coffin of the joy of digging ground
for potatoes on a cold, wet February Sunday afternoon?
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Mr Corbyn, who has recently turned his back on
Labour to launch a new <https://party/>party, is
a keen horticulturist and uses an allotment near his north London home.
He has said his favourite crop was marrows, and
that time spent growing produce helped alleviate
the stress of working in Westminster.
Ms Rayner has changed the rules on local
government assets to give cash-strapped councils
more flexibility to sell off land, including
allotments and school playing fields.
Some of the land, including a community allotment
in Storrington, West Sussex, has been sold to developers to build new homes.
Mr Corbyn said Labour should have more regard for
the troubled history of land ownership, and the
struggle over access by those who simply want to grow their own crops.
He wrote: Of course, social housing is
desperately needed, but we need not sacrifice
these vital green spaces to build it, he wrote.
We can build on ex-industrial land and take over
empty properties. Even then, we should ensure
social housing is accompanied by community gardens and adequate growing space.
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Under a century-old law, the Housing Secretary is
required to give permission for any to be sold off by local authorities.
The list of eight allotments she has agreed to be
sold were revealed in Parliament last month, and
include sites in Somerset, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Hertfordshire.
Mr Corbyn has said he does not use any weedkiller
on his allotment, which can make the process of
weeding it laborious, but believes that each
gardener has their own philosophy.
I like a marrow, he told his local newspaper
earlier this year. You get a long marrow which
is basically a courgette and cut it long ways;
take out the seeds to plant again for next year,
then fill it with chopped vegetables, onions,
make some indentations in it and smother that in
olive oil and bake it very slowly.
His intervention on allotment policy is one of
the first criticisms of the Labour Government
since he
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/07/26/jeremy-corbyn-my-party-might-be-called-your-party/>launched
his new political outfit, which will be called
Your Party until supporters have voted on a name.
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The party supports nationalisation of public
utilities and infrastructure, and will have the
support of trade unions, he said. It is also
opposed to the Israeli governments assault on
Gaza, but other policy decisions will be taken
after a vote of members later this year.
Ms Rayner previously served in Mr Corbyns top
team as shadow education secretary, before
winning the deputy leadership of the party in the
year Sir Keir Starmer became the party leader.
Her department said that councils should only
sell off
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/how-to-grow/dos-donts-managing-your-allotment/>allotments
where it is clearly necessary and offers value for money.
A spokesman added: We know how important
allotments are for communities, and that is why
strict criteria is in place to protect them, as well as school playing fields.
But the Conservatives said the policy was a kick
in the teeth to local people who dont have
access to their own gardens and called for the
Government to do more to protect green spaces.
----------
The loss of allotments makes us all poorer
By Jeremy Corbyn
News that Angela Rayner may approve allotment
sales will fill many with deep dismay.
Allotments have always been under threat from
developers. Now, that threat seems to have
government backing, which makes the future of
these precious spaces even more perilous.
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Those advising government and local authorities
should have some regard for the troubled history
of land ownership, and the struggle over access
by those who simply want to grow their own crops.
The debate goes back to the English Civil War,
when the King wanted to secure control of the
land he had gained, while Cromwell claimed to
speak for the farmers. In truth, it was the
Diggers who were the real revolutionaries. They
wanted land to be in common ownership.
Despite the restoration of the monarchy, huge
areas of land were known as the Commons and
survived for almost another two centuries. That
is, until the greed of big landowners won out once again.
Jeremy Corbyn on his allotment with his son Tommy
The Enclosure Acts, one of the most grotesque
abuses of power by Parliament, took away the
growing and grazing rights of the rural poor. A
monstrous attack on working-class life, the
enclosures represented the widespread theft of
public land, sanctioned by a parliament that was dominated by landowners.
The rural poor, left with nothing and facing
starvation, were forced to migrate to industrial
cities. It was in these rapidly growing
industrial cities notably in Birmingham that
allotments started to grow. Allotments, then,
grew out of opposition to enclosures and the privatisation of common land.
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Allotments were regulated in the late 19th and
20th century and, even though numbers have since
fallen, there are about 330,000 allotment plots.
At least 100,000 people are on waiting lists.
Once lost, they never return
Allotments have been crucial in times of national
stress. Many came out of the Second World War.
Indeed, many that were established in the First
World War, such as the one I enjoy in north London, have survived to this day.
Once lost, they never return. Their loss makes us
all poorer, as we become more and more detached
from how food is grown and how nature interacts with us.
Allotments provide a vital space for community
cohesion, biodiversity and social solidarity.
These parcels of land, that cannot be
individually fenced, provide growing space for many people.
Many people have no access to their own garden,
and an allotment gives them the opportunity to
grow vegetables and fruit and observe nature.
Allotments are particularly important for people
who experience stress and mental health problems.
I speak to many people who would love access to them for this very reason.
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Property developers have always had their eyes on
these parcels of land. Together with local
authorities, they construct various arguments for
building over them. Instead of contemplating
sales of these wonderful spaces, the Government
should be encouraging the growth of allotments,
or where there is insufficient land, the growth
of community and school gardens.
In my own borough of Islington, community gardens
have played a vital role in bringing the
community together and encouraging sustainable food production.
Of course, social housing is desperately needed,
but we need not sacrifice these vital green
spaces to build it. We can build on ex-industrial
land and take over empty properties. Even then,
we should ensure social housing is accompanied by
community gardens and adequate growing space.
Is this Government going to put the nail in the
coffin of the joy of digging ground for potatoes
on a cold, wet February Sunday afternoon? The battle for the grass roots is on!
Jeremy Corbyn is the independent MP for Islington North
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