The Apprentice star, 71, who took his seat in the House of Lords in 2009, didn’t hold back in addressing his disdain for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, 69. Having previously made his opinion of the politician clear when he likened the idea of Corbyn becoming Prime Minister to “watching the mother-in-law drive the Ferrari over a cliff,” Lord Sugar told this week’s Radio Times: “The only thing we have to make sure is that idiot — what’s his name? — Corbyn doesn’t get into power. That’s all. The Trotskyite,” he added. “Otherwise, we’ll have statues of pseudo-Lenin in Trafalgar Square.”
On the subject of Brexit negotiations, Lord Sugar exclaimed: “Oh, it’s a total disaster, I’m afraid to say.
“I hope that the sensible people accept the deal that’s on the table that the Prime Minister has got, because there’s no alternative, I think, at the moment.”
The business mogul said he had “given up worrying” about Brexit, adding: “Obviously, the big error was made when people voted leave.
“We can’t turn that around.
“The thing is, from my point of view, I think it’s going to take 10 to 15 years post-Brexit for it to settle down and for us to see the real ramifications, and whether it was a good idea or a bad idea,” Lord Sugar told the publication.
“But life will go on, and it will have to go on.”
Last week, The Apprentice favourite predicted “mass unemployment” in Sunderland in the wake of Brexit as he addressed the future of the automotive industry.
After Honda announced their Swindon factory would be closing, resulting in the loss of around 3,500 jobs, Lord Sugar tweeted his 5.3 million followers saying Sunderland “tipped the scales” in the 2016 referendum.
“Honda to leave UK with a potential loss of 3500 jobs in 2022,” he said, “It won’t be long for Nissan to make same decision.
“Sunderland you tipped the scales in 2016 vote and now you will pay with mass unemployment in your area, not just Nissan factory but all the peripheral suppliers.”
In the referendum, Sunderland voted 61.3 per cent in favour of leaving the EU.
Lord Sugar has previously called for a second referendum.
Speaking in the House of Lords in October, he said a second vote would be a “complete farce” but added: “However, there is a very good argument to void that vote if it can be concluded that the public were totally misled and it is my belief that a large section of the British public were misled, informing their decision to vote leave”.
Citing instances in business where “all comments and forecasts … had to be scrutinised line by line by auditors and lawyers in a very tough due diligence and verification process,” he called for similar standards to be applied to politics.
“No such process exists for claims politicians make,” he criticised.
“In some cases, misleading shareholders had resulted in prosecution, imprisonment. Applying the public company principle, it should follow that those people who will be responsible for putting this country into five to 10 years of post-Brexit turmoil based on lies should be in prison or at least prosecuted.”
Read the full interview with Lord Sugar in this week’s Radio Times — out now.