London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Aug 10, 2026

BBC presenter claims UK gardening culture is so ‘RACIST’ that ‘racism is baked into its DNA’

BBC presenter claims UK gardening culture is so ‘RACIST’ that ‘racism is baked into its DNA’

BBC presenter and botanist James Wong has been mocked online after going on a wild Saturday Twitter rant accusing “gardening culture” in the UK of being racist.

Wong – who has presented several BBC shows, including Countryfile, and serves as an ambassador for London’s Kew Gardens – made the bizarre claim in a series of Twitter posts.

Replying to another tweet that claimed gardens are not allowed “political agency” because they’ll “reveal uncomfortable politics of individual ownership” and “spatial inequity,” Wong wrote, “Absolutely U.K. gardening culture has racism baked into its DNA. It’s so integral that when you point out it’s existence, people assume you are against gardening, not racism.”


Some examples of the “racism” in the gardening world that Wong listed include the alleged “fetishization” of the words “heritage” and “native,” and an instance of him once being told by critics that a planting concept he developed “didn’t fit the area.”


Wong argued that the complaint was based on “unconscious ideas of what and who does and does not ‘belong’ in the U.K.”

“This is the kind of exhausting shit you have to go through everyday if you work in U.K. horticulture,” he declared.

Social media users mocked Wong’s claims, calling them “bonkers” and “nonsense.”


“Gardening is cancelled, if you grow carrots in your garden, you’re a massive racist,” joked one user, while another commented, "I feel really sorry for people who really are victims of racism when I see tweets like this...The concept of racism is becoming debased through trivial overuse.”



Wong is no stranger to making similar comments about the gardening scene in his regular columns in The Guardian. In June, Wong wrote about “horticulture’s race problem,” claiming that even “in the garden, there’s bigotry to be found.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Alleged Cartel Boss Daniel Kinahan Extradited From Dubai to Face Criminal Charges
AI Chatbots Challenge Traditional News Consumption and Raise Job Concerns
Andy Burnham Government Promises Crackdown on Exploitative Business Practices
UK University Funding Model Faces Growing Pressure From Unsustainable Student Debt
Government Urged to Subsidise Energy Bills for Vulnerable UK Households
UK Military Spending Plans Threaten to Deepen Infrastructure Funding Gap
Israeli Government Rejects US Peace Framework for Gaza
New Labour Government Signals Closer Economic and Strategic Ties With European Union
Amber Heat-Health Alerts Issued Across England as Temperatures Threaten 36 Degrees
UK Economy Expected to Grow Despite Energy and Supply Chain Shock From Iran Conflict
Foreign Social Media Accounts Drove Disinformation During Belfast and Southampton Riots
Record Number of Migrants Cross English Channel in Single Vessel as Smugglers Deploy Mega-Dinghies
Russia’s A7 Builds a State-Linked Payments Network Beyond Western Sanctions
Reports of Mark Zuckerberg-Linked Superyacht Declining Rescue Assistance Draw Maritime Scrutiny
Preserving Three Banksy Artworks in London Has Cost Taxpayers Nearly £150,000
Four Ugandan Athletes Disappear From Delegation After UK Sporting Events
French Authorities Report Channel Interventions as Cross-Border Migration Dispute Continues
Home Office Admits Error in Settled Status Case Involving Long-Term Italian Resident
Unite Calls for Independent Review of UK Budget Watchdog's Fiscal Forecasting Rules
Thinktank Calls for £175 Annual Energy Bill Cut for Low-Income Households
Foreign-Linked Social Media Accounts Amplified Recent Unrest in Belfast and Southampton, Analysis Finds
London Mayor Sadiq Khan Orders Westminster to Drop Proposed Soho and West End Hospitality Ban
Royal Navy Deployments to Monitor Russian Activity in UK Waters Rise 25 Percent
UK Economy Expected to Grow 0.4 Percent in Second Quarter Despite Geopolitical Pressures
Andy Burnham Launches Cost-of-Living Measures Targeting Subscription Traps and Misleading Discounts
Hyper-Realistic Reborn Dolls Draw Collectors Seeking Comfort and Craft
Gen Z Cuts Back on Dating as a Night Out Nears $200
Patients Turn to Artificial Intelligence for Therapy as Psychiatrists Warn of Privacy and Clinical Risks
Couples Embrace ‘Sleep Divorce’ to Protect Rest and Reduce Tension
Meta Ordered to Pay $567 Million and Change Facebook and Instagram Safeguards for Children
Up to only 10 Months in Prison for Swedish Officer’s Murderer Sparks Anger
Success: Nvidia Turned Gaming Chips Into the Engine of the AI Boom
Jorge Messi, Lionel Messi’s Father and Longtime Agent, Dies at 68
AI’s Next Bottleneck Is Power, Not Just Nvidia Chips
Advertising trick: Pepsi’s Harrier Jet Commercial Led to a $700,000 Court Fight
Meta Raises AI Spending Target to as Much as $145bn Despite Pressure Over Returns
Danube Drought Exposes Nazi Wrecks and Pushes Central Europe’s Power System to the Brink
Joe Biden’s Cancer Has Spread Beyond His Bones, Hunter Biden Says
Air Traffic Control Outage Grounded Flights Across the Midwest
Why 2027 Could Be a Strong Year for Stocks—and Why the Forecast Is Fragile
Why Markets May Look Quiet in August After Big Tech Earnings
Partial Solar Eclipse Expected to Draw Interest Across Southwestern UK
UK Graduate Job Postings Fall 7% as Entry-Level Opportunities Remain Scarce
UK Private Sector Returns to Growth as July Activity Reaches Highest Level Since April
UK Summer Drought and Wildfires Raise Pressure for Stronger Environmental Measures
UK Household Credit Stress Rises as Credit Card Lending Growth Hits 12.5%
London Stock Exchange Revises AIM Rules to Make Growth Capital More Accessible
NHS England to Expand Mental Health Services With 155 New and Upgraded Facilities
UK Overhauls £90 Billion Public Procurement System to Reward Domestic Jobs and Apprenticeships
Andy Burnham Holds Strong Approval as Labour Maintains Narrow Lead Over Reform UK, Opinium Finds
×