The Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson has said she believes Scottish independence is 'inevitable'.

However the 63-year-old, whose mother is Scots actress Phyllida Law, said she did not consider that either a yes or no result would be a "disaster" for the country.

The actress, who is about to be seen in new film Cruella, spent much of the first lockdown at her house in Argyll, on the banks of Loch Eck, where she regularly spends Summers with her actor husband Greg Wise.

She was asked for her views on independence in an article for British Vogue magazine, in which she also shared her thoughts on transgender issues.

In 2019, she was one of scores of women - including politicians, lawyers and academics - to sign an open letter to The Herald in support of their trans rights.

Thompson, who played Professor Trelawney in three of the Harry Potter films, was asked if she had shared her views with JK Rowling, in the wake of the author's controversial statements.

"I have lots of thoughts on it," she said, "which I talked to lots of people about, which I'm not going to bring up in this.

"The forum and fora in which it's been discussed has been filled with such horrifying violence, on both sides."

The actress said she had had interesting discussions with her 21 year-old daughter Gaia on the subject and later, shared more of her thoughts in an email to the interviewer.

She wrote: "My passion for women's rights has driven me all my life and so of course, I am bewildered when women of my age are insulted and threatened and fired because they haven't said the right thing.

"So both feelings are true - trans rights are as incontrovertibly necessary as women's rights. The space in which we discuss and put these rights into the process must be made safe for everyone."