The Horsell's Mouth Politics, pedantry and personal interests

Nick Herbert has been on the telly talking about the decline in UK food production under Labour. To be fair, this has been going on for a longer than 12 years but the present government has shown no interest whatsoever in supporting British growers and stockholders, preferring instead to cosy up to people like Tesco and the detrimental effect that unfettered supermarket power has had on our agriculture.

Proper support to UK farmers is long overdue and also to those wanting to grow their own. Certainly across the summer, every household in the country could save huge amounts of money by growing their own salad, herbs, legumes and roots – none of these are expensive or difficult to grow and with some hard work grow well in British conditions.

There will always be a need for farmers to grow other crops that are more difficult to cultivate at home – tomatoes, squashes, brassicas and fruits for example – as well as provide the livestock, including rare breeds, that this country was once so famed for.

There is just no need for us to import so much food from abroad, especially when it is out of season. The government should give funding to those wanting to set up their own kitchen garden and expand allotment availability and funding. It might even give people some exercise, knowledge and outdoor experience that could help them see their own lives a bit more in context.