Fury as £34m Apprentice star says struggling nurses should get a second job
HIS sharp tongue has brought many an Apprentice candidate to heel.
But Claude Littner may have gone too far this time – by lecturing nurses who use food banks.
The 70-year-old said those struggling on their NHS wages should simply take on extra shifts or a second job. The Royal College of Nursing condemned the busiNurses nessman’s comments as ‘galling’.
Mr Littner, who joined Lord Sugar’s reality show full-time in 2015, frequently offers career advice on Twitter. Amid a debate on pay, he wrote: ‘If a nurse or anyone else needs to make ends meet, nothing wrong with extending hours or finding part time work.’ He added: ‘Surely [it is] less demeaning than visiting the food banks.’
Nurses are paid around £24,000 a year after qualifying. Mr Littner is worth £34million.
Patricia Marquis of the Royal College of Nursing said: ‘A nurse seeing these comments after finishing a 12-hour shift will find them galling to say the least. routinely work long hours in a service that lacks the resources to meet demand and is grappling with record staff shortages.
‘If TV celebrities really want to help, they should start by listening to the concerns of those working in the NHS, not dismissing them – and certainly not criticising those left with little option but to visit a food bank.’
She added: ‘If Claude is interested in learning more about what life is really like for a nurse, we would be happy to arrange for him to shadow one of our members.’
Responding to Mr Littner online, one Twitter user wrote that ‘as a nurse I am contractually not allowed to take on additional work unless approved in writing by HR and line management’, as the job requires adequate rest between shifts filled with ‘life/death decision-making’. Another said: ‘Surely our nurses deserve a wage which means they don’t have to work two jobs, Claude?’
Garry Lemon of the Trussell Trust, a charity which supports food banks, said: ‘Volunteers work hard to provide a non-judgmental, welcoming atmosphere to people, but the bottom line is no one should need a food bank in the UK. We’re seeing more and more people being forced to turn to charity for emergency food, and that’s not right.’
Figures released by the charity today show record numbers are using food banks, with more than 820,000 emergency parcels handed out in the six months from April to September. More than one third were for children.
The total represents a 23 per cent increase on the same period last year – the sharpest rise the charity has seen for the past five years.
Mr Littner, a father of two, rose to TV fame with his ruthless interrogations of The Apprentice’s contestants at the contest’s semi-final stage. He took over from Lord Sugar’s former adviser Nick Hewer when he stepped down after a decade on the reality show.
Known as a corporate turnaround specialist, Mr Littner is a former chairman of a handful of large firms, including computing company Viglen. He is also the former chief executive of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
‘No one should need a food bank’