Flower power is Brown's last hope

Poor old Gordon Brown; now even the gardeners who organise the Chelsea Flower Show want to sink their pitchforks into him. The Royal Horticultural Society has launched a petition headed: "Let's turn Brown green" - calling for VAT on all ornamental plants and seeds to be cut from 17.5pc to 5pc. Inga Grimsey, RHS director general, panted: "Gordon Brown has already set a precedent for reducing VAT on goods credited with 'green' status, including wind turbines and solar panels, but plants and seeds are conspicuous by their absence.

"If every person was given the means to plant up their garden, window box or patio tubs, just imagine what could be achieved. Unless more people are encouraged to grow plants, the Britain that was once known as a nation of gardeners faces the likelihood of a bleak, brown future." Sadly, the Greenies have about as much chance as a lily in the Sahara; this particular tax break would cost the Exchequer £175m a year.