TV personality Alan Titchmarsh suggested homeowners should pay less council tax if they take up one gardening hobby. When speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, the gardening legend also shared how he believed Kier Starmer could tackle low levels of food production in the UK.
The horticulturist said people who cultivate their own food should receive a reduction in council tax because they would also relieve pressure on the NHS and contribute to society. When asked what he would have put to Starmer in PMQs, he responded: “These one and a half million houses that you’re wanting building, will you make sure there are also one and half million gardens?”
He added: “And if there are those gardens there, why not offer a reduction in council tax for people who cultivate those gardens? Because again, they’re relieving the pressure on the NHS, they’re growing a bit of their own food, hopefully. They’re contributing.”
The farming industry has long warned about the nation’s food security, and that the UK needs to grow more of its own fruit and vegetables.
In December 2024, lifelong farmer and agricultural lecturer Ed Wilmott told The Express about his major concerns around food security, which is just over 50% for staple foods. He said, “In other words, we’re not producing enough to feed the nation”.
Wilmott boiled it down to an increasing population with a loss of agricultural land, which has been accelerated by housing demand and schemes such as rewilding, where government pay subsidies to plant wildflower meadows.
Recalling a conversation with MPs, he said: “The answer was we can import it [food]. When you see what the weather’s done to certain parts of Spain and Portugal, are they going to import food if they’re going to be short themselves?”
Titchmarsh also warned that Brits don’t pay enough for their food, saying that it accounted for a much higher proportion of household spending in 1950s at around 30%, compared to between 8% and 12% today.
“I worry that we don’t pay enough for our food and it’s a terrible thing to say that when there are people using food banks, which is dreadful, we should not be in that situation,” he said.
He added: “I worry for the future of farming and growing in this country over the next 50 or so years. Are we going to just cover fields in solar panels? I think it’s very difficult.”
The horticulturist also called for rural studies to be a part of the national curriculum in schools.