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Sunday, 2 August 2009

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New Apprentice series to be postponed?

BBC Trust makes ruling

Sir Alan Sugar was offered a peerage by PM Gordon Brown

The next series of The Apprentice could be pushed back by several months to avoid a clash with the general election – because Sir Alan Sugar is a Labour peer.

While the BBC Trust has rejected claims the tycoon's government role breaches editorial guidelines, it admits that bosses should be wary about airing the show before the public vote.

‘Licence fee payers rightly look to the Trust to ensure that the impartiality of the BBC is not put at risk, and this is an issue that we consider of the utmost importance,’ says chairman Sir Michael Lyons.

The Apprentice normally runs from March.

‘When elections are called or are clearly imminent, we review all of our schedules to ensure that our output is suitable for transmission during that period,’ says a BBC spokesman.

‘If the next general election falls in the first part of 2010, the executive will, of course, bear the Trust's view in mind when it considers when to transmit the next series of The Apprentice.’

The ruling was made following a formal complaint from Conservative Party Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

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