‘Nail in the coffin': Jeremy Corbyn criticises Angela Rayner over allotment sales
The former Labour leader - who launched a new party with Zarah Sultana in July - said the government is putting a "nail in the coffin" for allotment holders.
Rayner, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has approved the sale of sites in Somerset, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Nottinghamshire, West Sussex, Derbyshire and Kent.
Under the Allotments Act 1925, land that is designated "statutory allotment" cannot be sold or repurposed without ministerial consent.
Corbyn is a keen horticulturist and has been using an allotment near Islington, North London, for 22 years.
Writing in The Telegraph, he said the move will "fill many with 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," he wrote.
He added: "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."
However, Corbyn has argued that "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."
While he acknowledged that social housing is "desperately needed", he disagreed that we should "sacrifice" allotments to build it.
"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!"
Green Party peer Jenny Jones also criticised the decision, saying "it seems there are no green spaces that are safe under this Labour government."
"Allotments are valuable spaces to promote physical and mental health, help with local food security, encourage a gift culture amongst allotment holders and their neighbours, and offer a sanctuary for nature," she said in a statement.
"Labour should know that they are especially important for people who don't have the privilege of their own garden, i.e. many of those who vote - or used to vote - Labour."
She added that councils need to be offered "proper funding by central government, not pushed into selling off these vital community assets."
In a statement, the National Allotment Society (NAS) said they wanted to "reassure plot holders and the wider public that no changes have been made to the statutory protections afforded to allotments in England and Wales."
They added that statutory allotments cannot be sold or disposed of without following strict legal procedures, and without consultation with NAS.
"We are aware of the allotment sites mentioned in the press," they said.
"In each of those cases, due process has been followed, and in some instances alternative or replacement allotment provision has been secured as part of the disposal process."
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) spokesperson said: "We know how important allotments are for communities, and that is why strict criteria is in place to protect them.
'The rules on the sale of assets have been in place since 2016 and have not changed.
'Ministerial approvals for the sale of allotments in 2024 were lower than the average for recent years.'
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