The appointment of the soon-to-be Lord Sugar as an "enterprise tsar" in the Labour government's final months will mean that the BBC will have to fire him from his role in The Apprentice. There is no way the BBC could accept Sugar being on TV in The Apprentice in the run-up to an election which the prime minister can delay until about this time next year when the next series would be running.
Sugar appeared on The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One this morning where he claimed he had cleared his role with BBC suits before accepting the job. He said he would not have put the BBC's investment in The Apprentice in jeopardy by accepting the job from Brown - and that he was in the clear as his job was advisory and did not set policy.
When Marr asked Sugar if he would be a "working peer" Sugar appeared baffled and said he did not know.
Despite Sugar's confidence there would be no conflict of interest created by his appointment, The Sunday Telegraph reported that the BBC is "in discussions" with Sugar over his future.
The political implications of Sugar's appointment to the Brown government was made clear when the chairman of the Commons' culture select committee, John Whittingdale, said: "In my view, it is not possible for him to continue to present The Apprentice at the same time as he is so closely identified with the government.
"I had assumed that by accepting the role as enterprise tsar, he would stand down from his role in The Apprentice.
"His show is all about business and enterprise. He will be making recommendations on policy to government. He is already a political figure. He he has made no secret of his admiration for Gordon Brown.
"Either he is an influential figure in Government or this is just window-dressing."
Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said the two roles were "totally incompatible" and he had written to the BBC Trust chairman on the issue.
Sugar is unlikely to have realised the consequences of accepting the token role from Gordon Brown but it will mean an end to his successful TV career. And he is likely to find that the role itself will mean little more than it does for most of the others who accept junior government positions.
The BBC will now have the headache of finding replacements for Sugar as well as Margaret Mountford who announced her resignation from the show on the same day as Sugar's appointment was reported. Nick Hewer is also likely to be replaced at the same time as Sugar and Mountford.
It will be difficult to find replacements for the trio as viewers will require at least Sugar's replacement to be a credible businessman. Sugar was able to find the time as he is now little more than a property investor and has sold off his stakes in Amstrad and Tottenham Hotspur football club.
But the BBC has now committed to up to three series next year including one for teenagers and Sugar's replacement will have to find the time to do all of these shows.
Update on 10th June: The Sun published an article claiming Sugar met with BBC director-general Mark Thompson and had got the green light from BBC chiefs to take up his new government role before accepting it. Unfortunately it published its report under a photo of Sugar taken the day before standing in front of a poster of himself next to cabinet minister, Ed Balls.
According to an article in The Guardian on the same day Sugar had been informed he had to comply with the BBC's guidelines on conflicts of interest. Just to indicate there was no way Sugar would do that he then stood in front of the picture of the Sugar Balls poster that the government had presumably provided for him. Sugar was attending what was called "The Apprentice Event".
Sugar is already becoming a butt of jokes in the House of Lords even before he has taken his seat there. Lord Hunt of the Wirral, the Tories' business spokesman, asked: "When are we going to meet the so-called enterprise tsar? When will the sorcerer's apprentice make his debut in this chamber or is he already a falling tsar?"
Lord Mandelson replied: "I'm sure the sorcerer's apprentice will be winging his way to your lordships' house in due course." Sugar reports to Mandelson as enterprise tsar.
Update on 13th June: The Times reported that "Sir Alan Sugar is prepared to take The Apprentice to another broadcaster if a deal cannot be reached with the BBC that will allow him to be both government adviser and television presenter".
So "Tsaralan" has still not accepted that he will be unable both to work for the Labour government and star in next year's Apprentice.
Update on 18th June: A BBC website quoted sugar saying: "Following detailed discussions, the BBC is satisfied that I will not be doing anything to affect its commitment to impartiality."
A BBC statement said: "The BBC is satisfied that [Sir Alan's] new role as an Enterprise Champion to the government will not compromise the BBC's impartiality or his ability to present The Apprentice."
"Sir Alan is not going to be making policy for the government, nor does he have a duty to endorse government policy.
"Moreover, Sir Alan has agreed that he will suspend all public facing activity relating to this unpaid post in the lead up to and during any shows that he is presenting on the BBC."
Jeremy Hunt, the Shadow Culture Secretary, called the statement "an outrageous piece of media management by the BBC".
"Slipping this letter out when the media is focused on MPs' expenses is simply staggering," said Mr Hunt, adding that the BBC director-general's justifications for retaining Sir Alan were "riddled with inconsistencies".
"Sir Alan won't be able to formulate government policy, yet is allowed to go to cabinet meetings to inform debate.
"He won't be put up for interviews by a government department, yet on the day of The Apprentice final he did two broadcast interviews talking about his new role.
"Far from addressing my concerns this letter shows that the BBC has simply ignored our complaint and hopes we'll let the matter drop."
Update on 19th June: Jeremy Hunt wrote to the BBC Trust about the conflict of interest.
Hunt wrote: "Rather than set my mind at ease, the justifications for allowing Sir Alan to take up his government role given by the director-general actually makes things worse.
"Having therefore now exhausted the complaints procedure with the BBC I would now like to make a number of official complaints to the BBC Trust about a breach of editorial guidelines."
Hunt also lodged an official complaint about The Andrew Marr Show broadcast on BBC One on Sunday 7th June, two days after the announcement of Sugar's appointment to the Brown administration and on the day of the final of The Apprentice this year.
Update on 22nd July: Baron Sugar of Clapton in the London borough of Hackney took his seat in the House of Lords on 20th July.
On 22nd July the BBC Trust duly overruled the BBC management and instructed them that it could not broadcast The Apprentice during an election. It informed them Sugar's appointment as the government’s enterprise czar risked damaging the BBC’s political impartiality.
The trust said that, when scheduling the next transmission of The Apprentice and The Junior Apprentice, the BBC "must give due consideration to the implications of showing the programmes in the months immediately before a general election".
This means the BBC will not be able to run the fifth series in its traditional slot from March to June as the election is likely to be delayed until May or June 2010.