Lord Sugar: Government must be careful not to 'encourage people to sit at home'

11 October 2020, 14:38 | Updated: 11 October 2020, 15:13

Serial entrepreneur Lord Alan Sugar told LBC the Government are walking a tightrope in providing support for businesses and employees during the pandemic.

Lord Sugar told Tom Swarbrick that many businesses have found during the lockdown that this period in time is "all about survival."

He admitted that "some of the measures are draconian," and "they're impossible to really implement properly but I don't have a solution."

"I do believe the economy is very important and I do believe that employment of people is very important."

Lord Sugar told Tom that "we can't put people out of business," and it is for this that he agrees with the Government's support package.

Tom prodded the businessman, noting that Labour are of the view the Government haven't gone far enough.

Lord Sugar felt that the government U-turn is "like an admission of defeat."

He went on to note that businesses have taken the initiative so far to reopen safely and the government must be aware of this, rather than closing places of work across the board.

"The Government just needs to be careful not to encourage people to sit at home doing nothing when they can indeed go to work," he warned. Lord Sugar noted that employees are not particularly happy with the prospect of staying home.

"Someone who's only getting paid two thirds of their salary is not going to be very happy but there are some people that will be happy to do nothing."

"There are certain things the government needs to deal with and be sensible about," he concluded.

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