The Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid has been branded arrogant and foolish after making scathing remarks about the state of Scottish football.
Scottish opposition parties said they were outraged at Dr Reid's remarks, broadcast in both Scotland and Northern Ireland, in which he criticised Scottish football teams other than Celtic and Rangers.
In the BBC interview, he said he believed the Glasgow clubs, which are Scotland's biggest, should leave the Scottish Premier League.
The clubs should not be expected to play against "largely unknown Scottish teams" every week, Dr Reid said.
He said: "These two clubs have got an international following that's second to none in the world.
"However the one thing that strikes them unfortunately is that no one will sign up for them in a marketing sense if they are playing largely unknown Scottish teams every other week."
The Scottish National Party's minister for arts, culture and sport, Mr Michael Russell, said the remarks were offensive and puerile and he demanded an immediate apology from Dr Reid.
"These are outrageous remarks for a Government Minister to make. They are arrogant, offensive and puerile," Mr Russell said.
Scottish Conservative culture and sport spokesman Mr Brian Monteith said Dr Reid's comments were "highly inappropriate".
"Dr Reid's ignorance is only matched by his arrogance," he said.
AP