Cameron piles into Alan Sugar

David Cameron (pictured) has broken one of the golden rules of political life – to choose your enemies very carefully – by launching an attack on Sir Alan Sugar. In an interview at the weekend, the Tory leader announced: "I can't bear Alan Sugar" and said that, furthermore, he also "hates" the tycoon's popular BBC1 programme The Apprentice, claiming that when he switches on the television he wants to "escape" from such ghastliness.

Quite what prompted this outburst, reported in the Sunday Times, is uncertain, but it has clearly ruffled the Amstrad boss. When told of Cameron's views, he said: "I'm glad he can't bear me. Perhaps he will stop asking people to sound me out about whether I want to meet him and defect to his party." Adds Sugar, a friend of Gordon Brown and sometimes Labour Party donor: "I'm still waiting for him to answer my question [presumably about the global financial crisis]: if he was in power, would things be any different? He seems to know when to stay silent."