Actor Simon Pegg has hit out at the Prime Minister's plan to make it compulsory for pupils to study maths until the age of 18 in an expletive-ridden video that has gone viral.

The 52-year-old actor, who married his long-time Scots girlfriend, music industry publicist Maureen McCann, in Glasgow 17 years  took to social media to address the topic, calling the prime minister a “pr***” and saying “f*** the Tories”.

“What about arts and humanities and fostering this country’s amazing reputation for creativity and self-expression? What about the kids that don’t want to do maths?” Mr Pegg asked.

“But no. Rishi Sunak wants a f***ing drone army of data-entering robots. What a to**er. F*** the Tories.”I In an attempt to combat high rates of innumeracy, Mr Sunak declared this week his new plan for every pupil in England will study some form of maths until they're 18.

Critics have said the plan will not be possible without more maths teachers.

But in amongst the backlash was Hot Fuzz star Simon Pegg who registered his disgust in a rant to his 691,000 Instagram followers that has gone viral.

He said: "So Rishi Sunak, our unmandated, unelected Prime Minister, twice removed, has decided that it should be compulsary for children to learn maths up until the age of 18.

"What a p***k! What about arts and humanities, fostering this country's amazing reputation for creativity and self expression?

He continued: "What about that? What about the kids who don't want to do maths? I hated maths, I dropped maths as soon as I could and I've never needed it other than the skillset that I acquired at the age of 12.

"But no, Rishi Sunak wants to f***ing drone army of data entering robots. What a tosser, f**k the tories. Get rid of them, please.F**k, f**k Rishi Sunak and f**k the Tories."

The video led to his name trending at No.2 in the Twitter Entertainment charts.

In his speech, Mr Sunak said the UK must "reimagine our approach to numeracy".

"In a world where data is everywhere and statistics underpin every job, letting our children out into that world without those skills is letting our children down," he said.

He said he wanted people to have the skills they needed "to feel confident" with finances and things like mortgage deals.

Just half of 16 to 19-year-olds study maths, according to Mr Sunak - but this figure includes pupils doing science courses, and those who are already doing compulsory GCSE resits in college.

It is not clear what the plans will mean for students who wish to study humanities or creative arts qualifications, including BTecs. No new qualifications are immediately planned, and there are no plans to make A-levels compulsory.

The government is instead exploring expanding existing qualifications as well as "more innovative options", a Downing Street spokesperson said.

In response, the Association of School and College Leaders said there was a "severe shortage of maths teachers", and that the plan was "therefore currently unachievable".

In 2021, there were 35,771 maths teachers in state secondary schools in England. There were more English teachers (39,000) and science teachers (45,000).

Maths teacher numbers are 9% higher than in 2012, but shortages have been reported across the country.