KIRSTIE ALLSOPP: Hey, Boris – here’s your resolutions for 2020… 

Dear BoJo, I wonder what’s on your list of New Year resolutions? I suspect, after your resounding election victory, it’s a long one, writes KIRSTIE ALLSOPP

Dear BoJo,

I wonder what’s on your list of New Year resolutions? I suspect, after your resounding election victory, it’s a long one.

Of course, you are advised by all sorts of super-bright people who know far more than me, but other than being a parent and step-parent, the greatest privilege of my life is to have a job that means I travel the length and breadth of our country seeing into people’s homes, families and working lives. And I’ve done this for 20 years as presenter of Channel 4’s Location, Location, Location. So for what it’s worth this is what I think should be on your 2020 to-do list for the people of Great Britain…

Give small, family stores a break

We don’t want the great British High Street to disappear. They should be the places we shop, eat and meet at the weekends, but instead they’re too often decaying while we drive to out-of-town places for high-volume convenience.

I was thrilled to hear your pledge to reduce business rates for small businesses. Hurrah! My mother-in-law, who is 90 and still runs her antique shop and employs three staff, should not be paying the same rates as Boots. What the Americans call Mom & Pop stores contribute hugely to our communities and lead to more human interaction.

I love my local High Street in Honiton, Devon, full of independent stores. The sad story this week about the little girl who found a desperate message from a forced Chinese labourer in a pack of Tesco charity Christmas cards wouldn’t happen with small retailers who are more in touch with suppliers.

So you could go further — and change the Sunday trading laws for these shops to let them open longer than bigger stores. They have a similar arrangement in Switzerland.

Take the torture out of moving

Anyone who has ever bought or sold a property knows the process is far more cumbersome and stressful than it needs to be. Our conveyancing system — the rigmarole of exchanging contracts and completing a sale — is broken. The good news is that sorting it out is not complicated, if your new housing minister has guts and energy.

First, he or she should implement the traffic light system that’s already been developed by the Land Registry, where you can see online which solicitor has done what. So once a solicitor has completed a task, they get a green light. Next suggestion: Get all the lawyers, bankers, surveyors and agents’ professional bodies in a room — and don’t let them out until they’ve agreed on easy-to-understand protocols.

Of course, Boris Johnson is advised by all sorts of super-bright people who know far more than me, writes KIRSTIE ALLSOPP

Of course, Boris Johnson is advised by all sorts of super-bright people who know far more than me, writes KIRSTIE ALLSOPP

My answer to the housing crisis

Forget the agonising about concreting over green space — create affordable new housing around and on top of all single- storey retails units.

I’ve seen this done in Norway, not with boxy concrete apartments, but with light, spacious lofts that feel modern. Retailers should jump at the idea. What better way to persuade people to buy from a proper shop? With roads and infrastructure in place, this is a far faster, greener way to build new communities.

And get rid of homework!

Please, please, please get rid of homework and turn the energy of parents to reading with their offspring instead. It’s my greatest regret as a parent that I didn’t refuse homework for my children at primary school. Young children should be encouraged to read first and foremost, and be read to. Homework should be a time when you cuddle up together at the end of the day, not battle it out while trying to cook supper.

It used to break my heart in the summer having to force my children indoors to sit on a chair and work. The pressure of homework creates a triangle of conflict between parents, children and teachers.

Some schools even take away a pupil’s break time if their homework hasn’t been done, a sadly common punishment that effectively gives the child a totally sedentary day.

Yes, you’ll be under pressure from former education minister Michael Gove to continue with a rigorous academic agenda, and there’s a place for that of course, but listen to former culture minister Ed Vaizey as well, who has long argued for more arts education in our schools. For so many students, subjects such as food tech and crafts are vital and have enormous benefits. We need chefs and designers as much as physicists and physicians.

How now, Black Cow — why I’m sticking with British booze 

I’m not doing Dry January, but I will be limiting my drinking in a different way — by drinking British.

Emmanuel Macron has said France won’t promote Dry January in case it harms the country’s wine industry.

And in the same spirit, I’ll be sipping the delicious Hepple Douglas Fir vodka, made in Northumberland and flavoured with local fir trees. Or Black Cow vodka, made from milk of all things, in Dorset. Or anything British and independent. Salut!

I’ve discovered the real art of regifting 

My sister Sofie got some lovely ornaments from her mother-in-law this Christmas

My sister Sofie got some lovely ornaments from her mother-in-law this Christmas

My sister Sofie got some lovely ornaments from her mother-in-law this Christmas. They’re an old set of Wizard Of Oz Christmas decorations (pictured) that have a wonderful vintage feel. They had been given to her in turn when she was ten years old. 

Aren’t they beautiful? And what a lovely thought to give your daughter-in-law something so treasured and full of meaning that will become a family heirloom. That’s what regifting should be; not giving away things you don’t like, but giving away the things you love to the people you love.

They¿re an old set of Wizard Of Oz Christmas decorations (pictured) that have a wonderful vintage feel

They’re an old set of Wizard Of Oz Christmas decorations (pictured) that have a wonderful vintage feel

Making Naans for nigel!

Lots of my friends will be cooking recipes from Nigel Slater’s new book, Greenfeast Autumn/Winter, over the lean weeks of January.

How do I know? Because I gave huge numbers of them as Christmas gifts! It is a star of a book and makes eating more veg and less meat seem like a luxury. His Naan Bread Pizzas are frankly genius and went down a storm with my whole family.

Lots of my friends will be cooking recipes from Nigel Slater¿s new book, Greenfeast Autumn/Winter, over the lean weeks of January, writes KIRSTIE ALLSOPP

Lots of my friends will be cooking recipes from Nigel Slater’s new book, Greenfeast Autumn/Winter, over the lean weeks of January, writes KIRSTIE ALLSOPP

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk