SIR Sean Connery has claimed the English will soon start campaigning for independence from Scotland - because they are so fed up with Scots running the country.

The former James Bond star and long-time supporter of the Scottish Nationalist Party said the fact Scots held many of the top posts in UK politics would not go unnoticed by the English electorate.

"The English want their independence now, more than a lot of Scots do, I think," he said.

"It's all a bit too much for them now.

"They see Ming Campbell leading the Lib Dems until recently, Gordon Brown taking over from Tony Blair - who was himself born in Edinburgh - and people like John Reid and even the late Robin Cook.

"They think to themselves 'wait a minute here'.

"After we [the Scots] got devolution we could vote on issues that they couldn't touch, but Scottish people can vote in both elections."

Sir Sean was speaking in New York at a staging of the award-winnng play Black Watch, which is about Scottish troops fighting in the Iraq war.