Paterson calls Titchmarsh a ‘complete muppet’
DEFRA secretary Owen Paterson has branded TV presenter Alan Titchmarsh a “complete muppet” for attacking government policies on the countryside.
Former Gardeners’ World and Ground Force presenter Mr Titchmarsh had questioned the government’s handling of the ash dieback disease and warned that the Conservative Party had lost touch with rural areas.
Speaking at the launch of the 100th Chelsea Flower Show last month, he said: “There seems to me very little investment in rural areas and the countryside. We have to look after agriculture and horticulture: growing things. This is how we feed ourselves.
“Time was when the Tory party was the party of the shires and understood how the countryside works.”
Mr Titchmarsh said recent government advice to the public to wash boots, dogs and children after visiting the woods to curb the spread of ash dieback disease would have “minimal effect” because the disease was already widespread.
“I think expecting people to wash their dogs, boots and children after a woodland walk is like sticking a plaster on a broken leg,” said Mr Titchmarsh.
“This is fungal-led and wind-borne. It is here now. It is a matter of watching and waiting. We need to cull where possible when we find it, monitor and look out for resistant strains. We also need more stringent rules on imports.”
But Mr Paterson, MP for North Shropshire, hit back in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, accusing the celebrity gardener of not paying attention to government policies on rural issues.
“He’s a complete muppet, missed completely everything we’re doing,” rebuked Mr Paterson, a keen horseman and huntsman.
“He’s a complete muppet, missed completely everything we’re doing.”
Owen Paterson
On Thursday (6 December) Mr Paterson outlined the latest plans to control Chalara fraxinea (ash dieback), which included maintaining the ban on the import and movement of ash trees.
Simon Pryor, of The National Trust, described the plans as “too little, too late”.
Dr Pryor said: “The limited actions and weak commitments set out in the plan will not be enough to achieve the aim of controlling the spread of the disease. It is far too little, too late.
“Through this action plan we’re effectively surrendering the British landscape to this disease before we’ve fully investigated ways of reducing rate of spread and buying time.”
Scientists believe that the ash dieback fungus, first identified in the UK in February, came here after wind-blown spores infected ash trees. The disease has wiped out 90% of ash trees in Denmark.
Meanwhile, in a separate interview with the Daily Telegraph, Owen Paterson has backed the use of GM crops and branded critics of the technology as “humbugs”.
“Emphatically we should be looking at GM… I’m very clear it would be a good thing,” he said.
“The trouble is all this stuff about Frankenstein foods and putting poisons in foods.
“There are real benefits, and what you’ve got to do is sell the real environmental benefits.”
Ash dieback threatens woodland generation
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