BBC defends Sugar against quit calls

The BBC's editorial policy chief David Jordan has defended Sir Alan Sugar following growing calls for him to quit The Apprentice.

Sugar was last week named as the Government's new 'enterprise tsar', a role which will see him offering advice to ministers on issues affecting small firms and entrepreneurs.

The news quickly led to criticism from Conservative politicians, who argued that Sugar's appointment breaches the BBC's impartiality rules.

Speaking to a newspaper at the weekend, Culture Select Committee chairman John Whittingdale commented: "In my view it is not possible for him to continue to present The Apprentice at the same time as he is so closely identified with the Government."

Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt later backed Whittingdale's remarks, explaining: "We are very, very concerned about the potential conflict of interest. No government minister or someone who's got a key role in formulating government policy has ever had a weekly television programme, one of the most popular of its genre, in the very same area for which they have Government responsibilities."

However, in an interview with BBC Radio 4, editorial policy controller Jordan has insisted that Sugar can continue to front the long-running reality show.

"What we are absolutely determined to do is to make sure that the BBC's impartiality is sacrosanct," he explained. "Alan Sugar understands that as well as anybody else. He is determined to do everything by the book and make sure he didn't breach any of the BBC's editorial guidelines."

Jordan went on to describe The Apprentice as "a factual entertainment programme - it's not even a serious factual programme".

He added: "There's not a lot of relationship between The Apprentice and, as it were, business policy. In fact I don't think anybody could point to a moment in any of the Apprentice programmes where business policy or Government policy or anything relating to it was discussed on the programme."

Sugar recently described his new role as "politically neutral" and confirmed that he would not officially join the Government.