Sir Alan 'should be told: you're fired'

The shadow Commons leader has called for the government enterprise tsar to be fired from his role, following requests for his resignation from the Federation of Small Businesses. Skip related content

At business questions this morning Sir George Young highlighted recent outbursts from the government's enterprise champion Sir Alan Sugar, describing small businesses as "moaners" living in "Disney World".

The shadow Commons leader asked: "Is that not a rather unusual way to champion a sector that is normally referred to as the lifeblood of the economy?"

"With the FSB calling for Lord Sugar to go, do you think he still has the confidence of the companies that he is supposedly meant to be representing or is it time to say: 'You're fired'."

Harman failed to respond when asked and said: "That is certainly it."

Andrew Mackay (Con, Bracknell) later pressed the Commons leader on the comments.

She responded: "I'm afraid I haven't actually seen the remarks that were made and I don't know whether they were made in the House of Lords or on a TV programme but I will look into them."