THE owner of Rangers football club has accused Jack McConnell of being “ill- informed”, “disrespectful” and showing a “knee-jerk” reaction to the problem of sectarianism.

David Murray is angry at what he sees as an ill-prepared and insensitive intervention by the first minister. His criticism comes as football clubs, church leaders and local authorities prepare for a summit called by McConnell to debate the problem.

One of Scotland’s most successful businessmen, who backed Labour in the 1999 Scottish election campaign, Murray also criticised McConnell for pursuing “socialist” policies that stifled entrepreneurship.

McConnell has described sectarianism as “Scotland’s shame”. When violence broke out after an Old Firm match in November and 19 people were arrested he blamed players on both sides for fuelling tension among supporters.

“Everybody in the clubs, players on the pitch, the management teams, those who sit in the boardroom making the decisions, the staff in the grounds — everybody associated with those two clubs has a responsibility not just to their own clubs but to Scotland as a whole for the reputation of our country,” he said.

In an interview with The Sunday Times Murray said the first minister had ignored progress that Rangers and Celtic had made in tackling hooliganism. In the past 15 years the number of arrests following Old Firm games has fallen dramatically.

“It was disrespectful of the first minister to call the problem of sectarianism ‘Scotland’s shame’. It’s a very delicate and deep-rooted situation,” he said.

“I don’t think he took on board the work that has been going on behind the scenes. His statement was made without having all the relevant facts in front of him.

“Rangers have done a lot of work improving the situation. If you look over the last 10 years there has been a massive improvement and both Celtic and Rangers fans should be applauded.

“I thought what Mr McConnell said was a knee-jerk reaction. To have called Rangers and Celtic, after one football game, ‘Scotland’s shame’ was disappointing to say the least.”

In recent weeks McConnell has managed to alienate both sides of the sectarian divide. He infuriated the Orange Order by pre-empting an independent report into sectarian parades. The Catholic church was angered by attempts to give advice on contraception and abortion to children in church schools.

Murray, the fifth-wealthiest Scot in the Sunday Times Rich List, is worth an estimated £450m. He also criticised the executive’s record on the economy, blaming “socialist” policies for the decline in Scotland’s population.

“I enjoy being in Scotland but I honestly think as a nation we have got to look at the reasons why people are leaving,” he said. “We have become a very socialist country, where the priorities are on healthcare, schooling and everything like that and we’ve not become an entrepreneurial country.

“Look at the Scottish executive. There’s no business experience, so that’s not a priority in their mind. The whole balance is wrong. We are creating a country of civil servants. Our percentages are the wrong way round.”

Murray was one of 101 business people who put their names to a Labour-backed newspaper advert ahead of the 1999 Scottish parliamentary election, which gave a warning of the dangers of independence.

He has since distanced himself from Labour, claiming that the party has done little to relieve businesses from the burdens of high taxation and bureaucracy. He has also said he believed the Scottish National party has a better economic policy.

“The Scottish executive should have a right good serious look at the culture of entrepreneurship,” he said. “It’s all right having soundbites, getting some old entrepreneur like me to go and visit schools, but the culture is not there.

“We don’t have an entrepreneurial culture. Whether we accept it or not, we are a socialist country now with socialist beliefs.

“We did not give a greater emphasis to an entrepreneurial culture. We’re not controlling our destiny.”

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