Sugar refuses to sweeten Brexit pill in arena Q&A
LORD Alan Sugar did not hold back at a Cardiff business event yesterday, taking aim at senior Tory politicians who think the UK economy will be just fine if the country crashes out of the EU without a deal.
The Apprentice host and serial entrepreneur was on stage at the Motorpoint Arena for a Q&A during the Introbiz Expo event.
He did not suffer fools gladly, as he shot down questions he did not believe worthy in scenes similar to his BBC TV show – but it was three politicians who got the full Alan Sugar treatment.
On the referendum result in 2016 in favour of the UK leaving the EU, Lord Sugar said: “The public didn’t know the ramifications. Some of the public were lied to by [Boris] Johnson and [Michael] Gove with their £350m bus and I have advocated that the damage that could have been caused by those liars could or will change the lives of everybody in this country for the next God knows how many years, so to me it is a criminal offence.”
Lord Sugar said he has advocated in the House of Lords that any promises made by politicians during elections or referenda should in future be independently audited by an external party and held to account – in the same way companies cannot lie to their shareholders.
He added that the European Union didn’t ask the UK to leave so questioned why the bloc should be expected to accommodate the Brexit process.
“Why should they bend and agree to demands that people like Gove, Johnson are talking about and that other t*** – whatshisname, the bloke in the pinstripe suit,” he said, nodding when someone yelled Jacob Rees-Mogg.
He described the deal that the Prime Minister unveiled last week as a “bad deal”, and speculated that Theresa May would admit this to herself in private.
But, he said, we had to do a deal.
He also made a dig at President Trump – who previously hosted the US version of The Apprentice – when answering a question about how wealth can change people.
Lord Sugar said that people can alienate their friends and start to think they are “a big shot” and “can walk on water”.
“Horrible when that is, horrible people, Donald Trump is one of those people,” he said. “Fortunately, I am not like that!”
A softer side of Lord Sugar did emerge when he discussed what he would teach children to help them excel in life.
“Children need to learn to respect, to respect their parents, obviously, respect their elders, although it’s a bit old-fashioned, to respect their teachers, to turn away from the temptation of drugs and crime, and to be generally nice to people,” he said.
“And you know what, if they achieve all of those points I just made, that’s good enough for me. They don’t need to be millionaires.”