By Nick Lester
Copyright standard
The Apprentice star Lord Sugar used a rare spoken contribution in Parliament to vent his frustration at being unable to access BBC iPlayer from abroad.
The billionaire tycoon, who presents the reality business show on the channel, pointed out he was a TV licence fee payer and called on ministers to “have a word” with the corporation to tackle the difficulties encountered with the on-demand streaming platform.
The independent crossbencher said he had resorted to using virtual private network (VPN) services, which can be used to bypass geographic restrictions, but that the BBC had “gone out of their way” to block this type of connection.
The Amstrad computer founder argued the corporation had the technology to address the issue and enable people to access content through their normal log-in.
Due to rights agreements, iPlayer users need to be in the UK to stream and download BBC programmes.
The latest three series of The Apprentice are currently available to domestic viewers on the service.
Lord Sugar’s intervention at Westminster is notable as he seldom takes part in parliamentary proceedings, for which he has previously faced criticism.
According to the parliamentary record, his last spoken contribution in the Lords was nearly seven years ago in October 2018.
It also shows the independent crossbencher has not voted since 2017 and has never asked a written question.
Speaking in the upper chamber, Lord Sugar said: “I am, like most of you here, a licence fee payer of the BBC and I get very frustrated that I’m unable to access the content of, for example, BBC iPlayer, and have resorted to using VPN services to do so.
“Now, the thing is, the BBC have gone out of their way to block the use of VPN.
“But what I would like to ask the minister is whether he could have a word with them to allow us to log in using our details?
“I recognise that some of the content there is not for broadcast outside of the UK, but, nevertheless, they have the technology to work out how to deal with that.”
Responding, Labour frontbencher Lord Leong promised to raise the matter with his ministerial colleagues at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
The BBC has been contacted for comment.
