Why Lord Sugar won’t fire himself

ABSENTEE Lord (Alan) Sugar is taking a ‘leave of absence’ from the House of Lords to tend to his overseas interests, I can reveal.

‘Being a member of the Lords is one of the best achievements in my life,’ said the 74-year-old peer – whose busy TV and business career hasn’t allowed him to vote since 2017.

He last spoke in the second chamber in 2018 and has never asked a written question. Controversial ‘leave of absence’ rules allow peers to maintain their titles, as well as access to parliamentary facilities and stationery, and the freedom to bring in up to five guests – while not being able to speak or vote, and not having to declare outside interests. It also means they fall out of tough new transparency rules that from January have required peers to declare how much they are paid. Why not just carry on not speaking or voting as normal, I asked the sweet lord.

Sugar said he was completely unaware of the transparency rule change when he absented himself even further from his legislative duties. He will be working abroad until May, when he comes back to Blighty and ‘will return to the House’. Asked why he doesn’t just fire himself, the star of the BBC’s The Apprentice replied: ‘I don’t want to and will NEVER resign my place in the House of Lords.’

Such a question of the non-elected absent peer is apparently ‘belligerent’.