Lord Sugar says banks unfairly attacked for lending

Lord Sugar has defended the UK’s banks saying they should not be attacked for what he says is responsible lending.

In an interview with the Radio Times, which he has guest edited ahead of The Apprentice returning to our screens next week, said: “It’s all b******s, that is! It’s total rubbish, a big excuse, political garbage! Why should a bank give you some money?

“If I’ve got a great idea you’re not going to give it to me, just like that are you? If you have a whim of an idea, you have to put your own money in it, or seed it from somewhere, or carry on working where you’re working… until you’ve got enough money to fund it,” he said.

“The banks were villains by acting irresponsibly, but now they’re trying to act responsibly, they’re getting chastised for not lending irresponsibly again… It is a total joke, a complete and utter political joke.”

Lord Sugar, who has amassed an estimated £730 million fortune, in long-held beliefs, instead criticised over-generous parents for not instilling drive and ambition.

“The parents have got themselves to blame. And then when the kids get to the age of 21 and they’ve done their gap year, and done all that usual s*** and it’s ‘Errrrr what are you going to do for a job?’ ‘I ain’t got one.’”

He said some young people had unrealistically high expectations and expected to be like the co-founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.

Lord Sugar said: “Too many young people think you have to be another Zuckerberg, or whatever his name is… it’s either billions or nothing.

“That’s not the case. He’s a one-in-a-trillion example, and while it’s worth aspiring to be him, the reality is that you are not going be able to do that.

“Forget it. Youngsters need to focus on more practical things… starting a business from scratch.”