THE director of the National Theatre of Scotland has compared "parochial" London to the international outlook he has experienced north of the border.

Laurie Sansom, in a revealing interview in the Sunday Herald, said that the "sucking energy of London" means it does not look outside itself.

Sansom, on the eve of his second season in charge of the NTS, also spoke about his background, attending a comprehensive school in Kent, becoming a father, and his impressions of Scotland since he assumed the role at the theatre.

Of Scotland's view of the world, he said: "Scotland has a more international perspective than England in my experience. That sucking of the energy of London ... it doesn't have to look outside itself.

"Scotland has always looked beyond the North Sea to the USA, made new connections with other nations, yet its global influence is under-represented. London doesn't see that part of Scotland."

He added: "London only started to look at Scotland two weeks before the referendum vote last September, and only when it was nearly a Yes.

"Suddenly they had to be interested. Well, you haven't been interested enough, have you?"

Asked whether he thought London was parochial, he said: "It seems counter-intuitive to say that, but yes."

Of his predecessor, Vicky Featherstone, who once said she felt bullied by some of the criticism she received in her time in Scotland, he said: "She took a lot of the heat.

"I've felt very welcomed in Glasgow and I like that you have to prove yourself. I want to do my five years.

"I want to make sure that whenever I leave there's a wealth of Scots and Scottish-based candidates with others in contention for my job."

Sansom did not reveal how he voted in the independence referendum.

He said: "I'm not going to say.

"Before I came to Scotland I don't know how I would have voted.

"Being here and being part of that extraordinary year did certainly influence how I felt."