11 hours ago
Rayner embroiled in hypocrisy row over war on allotments
Angela Rayner has campaigned for allotments in her own constituency while overseeing the sell-off of communal gardens elsewhere, it has emerged.
The Deputy Prime Minister has been accused of hypocrisy for praising local allotments as vital spaces for children and adults to socialise, while allowing councils to sell off such assets elsewhere.
Last month, The Telegraph revealed her department, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, has given the green light for cash-strapped councils to sell off allotments to raise funds.
The decision fuelled a backlash from MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, who said it would 'fill many with deep dismay'.
The selloff is at odds with comments Ms Rayner made in April that championed a community allotment in her constituency that helps special needs children.
She told the Tameside Correspondent the allotment gave the children 'the chance to have fun and meet other local families in an environment that was secure'.
While serving in opposition, Ms Rayner Minister also praised the role that allotments in her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency in Greater Manchester played in helping to build a community spirit.
In April 2024, just before the election, she visited Curzon Ashton football club which runs an allotment programme for veterans.
Ms Rayner praised the scheme, funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, which is aimed at helping ex-servicemen and women suffering from loneliness.
In October 2022, she visited a community garden allotment in Droylsden, describing it as a 'fantastic initiative'.
Writing on her website at the time, she said: 'Those that work on the allotment say the initiative has also helped them through some tough times and reduced loneliness and isolation in the area.
'Members have used donated wood to make planters, trestles and troughs to grow tomatoes, strawberries, corn and pumpkins.
'They hold regular open days where residents can turn up and take food for free. The fruit and veg bags are topped up with store cupboard essentials to help those struggling with the cost of living crisis.
'The ultimate NIMBY'
However, since Labour came to power, Ms Rayner has personally approved the sale of eight allotment sites.
Those that have already been sold include a site in Storrington, West Sussex, that will make way for 78 new homes. Two allotments and two in Bolsover, Derbyshire, are also to be closed.
Paul Holmes MP, the shadow housing minister, said: 'Rayner has been exposed as an arch-hypocrite, the ultimate NIMBY who thinks selling off everyone else's allotments is fine – just not in her back yard.
'By declaring war on Jeremy Corbyn's treasured allotments, she has sown the seeds for the next iteration of Labour's Left-wing civil war.
'Rather than trying to prune her rivals by any means necessary, perhaps she should grow up and focus on what the country really needs to cultivate.'
Under the Allotment Act 1925, any disposal of allotment sites requires Westminster to give the go-ahead.
'No need to sacrifice vital green spaces'
Mr Corbyn, who is forming a new Left-wing party to challenge Labour, accused her of hammering a 'nail in the coffin' of community allotments.
Writing for The Telegraph, he said: '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.'
Ms Rayner's department said in response to the controversy that the rules surrounding the sale of allotments had been in place since 2016.
It added that ministerial approvals for sales in 2024, only the second half of which Labour was in power for, had been lower than in previous years.
A spokesman said: 'Councils have been able to sell assets since 2016 and these rules have not changed. They should only do so where it is clearly necessary and offers value for money.
'We know how important allotments are for communities and that is why strict criteria are in place to protect them, as well as school playing fields.'
