SIR Jackie Stewart, the former motor-racing world champion, has accused his fellow Scots of being lazy and overdependent on public sector “jobs for life”.

The racing legend, from Dumbarton, who now lives in Buckinghamshire and Switzerland, said he was astonished at how workshy his countrymen had become.

Stewart, the son of a garage owner who overcame dyslexia to become one of the country’s greatest sportsmen, said he rarely heard a Scottish voice when he visited hotels and restaurants in his native country.

Praising Poles and Australians, who he said were prepared to work hard in the service industry, he accused Scots of relying on cosy jobs in the country’s burgeoning public sector.

“I am constantly disappointed by the fact that the Scots don’t want to work,” he said. “In things like the service sector which is absolutely vital for tourism, I’m served by South Africans, Australians, New Zealanders and Polish people who are really working hard.

“I think social services are too prolific. If you have a job in government you’re not going to be sacked. You have a job for life. You don’t have to work too hard and you don’t have to present yourself well because it is not competitive.”

The 68-year-old’s comments have reignited the debate provoked by Kelvin MacKenzie, the former editor of The Sun, who claimed Scotland was a nation of subsidy junkies.

As a panellist on the BBC’s Question Time programme earlier this month, MacKenzie, whose grandfather was born in Stirling and was allegedly a Highland Games champion, accused Scots of living off wealth created in the southeast of England.

“Scotland believes not in entrepreneurialism, like in London and the southeast. The reality is that the Scots enjoy spending it, they don’t enjoy creating it, which is the opposite of down in the south,” he said.

MacKenzie, who is being investigated by police for allegedly inciting racial hatred, said he was delighted a prominent Scot had now endorsed his comments. “The Scots may not want to take notice of someone like me but I hope they take notice of someone like Sir Jackie,” he said.

“When their own countrymen and someone who has made a success of their life starts making these statements then maybe Scots should think a bit more rather than hitting out. I am not anti-Scot but I am anti the fact we are subsidising a part of the country that should be able to look after itself.”

In a separate interview Stewart recalled his own youth when he used to serve petrol in his father’s garage in Scotland. “I have heard too many of my compatriots saying: ‘Oh, I wouldn’t want to do that job, it’s too menial’,” he said. “But I was proud to be involved in a service industry, it taught me how to communicate, gave me confidence, and encouraged me to be positive, because I knew that if I was nice to people, they would like it and give me a bigger tip.”

Other Scots disagreed. Sir Tom Hunter, Scotland’s richest man, said: “Everyone is born with the same intelligence, just some are dealt a bad hand in terms of opportunity. No one wakes up and thinks they don’t want to work, or go on the dole. It just happens that some people find themselves in tough situations. Sometimes they just need a little bit of extra help.”

Gordon Ramsay, the Glasgow-born celebrity chef, added: “Scots have tenacity, hunger and determination and, most importantly, a pair of balls. That costs nothing and that is how they will succeed.”

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