Hollywood idol James McAvoy has been branded 'absurd' after blaming England for Scots hitting the bottle.
The X-Men star believes people in Celtic nations are more likely to drink heavily because they've been treated as second-class citizens by UK governments.
In a bizarre US interview, the Glaswegian actor – who moved to London in the 1990s – also claimed that most Scots are demanding a second independence referendum but that Westminster has passed new laws to stop it happening.
On her podcast Dear Chelsea, comedienne Chelsea Handler asked McAvoy, 47, about Scotland's reputation for hard drinking and the SNP's push for yet another vote on ripping Scotland out of the Union.
He said: 'I'm not looking to perpetuate stereotypes about Scottish people. At the same time, why is there a stereotype – because usually there's some sort of truth in it.
'I'm not saying all Scottish people drink tons, but there are certain realities about my country, about the way it's been handled, the second-class citizenry as a part of the UK – not just us, but Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland suffer and even parts of England.
Hollywood actor James McAvoy's comments were slammed as absurd
Mr McAvoy was critical of Alex Salmond's leadership of the Scottish Government
'We tried to [separate] in 2015, was it... 2016 we had the referendum? We nearly got it across.
'We're pushing for it [again]. Alright, you made it a law that we can't do this again, but it's weird saying to a whole bunch of people that they can't vote on sovereignty.'
McAvoy also aimed a foul-mouthed broadside at late former First Minister Alex Salmond for losing the 2014 referendum.
He said: 'I think it was poorly led last time. The leader of the national party just didn't have answers. There was a point where he was doing one of those, you know, the leader stands on a plinth and they kind of battle each other.
'And they said: "What's going to happen with the currency? Are we going to keep the UK pound, or are we going to go into the euro? The euro might not let us in. What are we going to do?".
'And he went: "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it". And we're like: "We're f****** standing on the bridge, m***********". S*** like that lost the vote.'
McAvoy added: 'Don't get me wrong, I live in London, my kids are English.
'I'm not down on England. Even [talking to] the English, I'm like: "Why do you want us?".'
Last night Scottish Tory deputy leader Rachael Hamilton hit out at McAvoy's comments.
She said: 'Scotland doesn't need lectures from celebrity Nationalists or another divisive referendum. Blaming Scotland's drinking culture on the Union is an absurd attempt to turn a serious issue into a vehicle to push Nationalist propaganda.
'It's rich of James McAvoy to lecture Scots about independence when he doesn't have to live every day with the consequences of the SNP's failures.
'But even as a supporter he admits the Nationalists failed to answer the most basic questions at the last referendum.'
McAvoy became a household name in the 2000s Channel 4 comedy drama Shameless, later marrying co-star Anne-Marie Duff, from whom he's now divorced. His movie credits include The Last King of Scotland, Atonement – for which he won a Bafta – and Filth.
He has also starred as Professor Xavier in four of the X-Men movie series and recently made his debut as a director with California Schemin', about two Scottish rappers who pretended to be American to land a record deal.
Carolyn Lochhead, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said: 'More than 1,000 people in Scotland died because of alcohol [last year].
'However, this isn't a problem unique to Scotland. The UK as a whole is experiencing an alcohol health emergency.'
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