Quotes

I see the Scottish referendum as being more about the way Britain is governed than specifically about Scotland. I think that it's gonna be a catalyst for change right across the British Isles because I can't see England putting up with a system whereby so many people are grandfathered in before you get to divide the cake up: the monarchy, the aristocracy, the House of Lords, the bankers, the public school elite. There's not much left for anybody else after that. And once Scotland gets rid of all that, I would think that England might try and follow suit in some way.

This very anachronistic sort of idea that a free press that's run by billionaire tycoons is somehow beneficial to a democracy in this country or any other country, it just seems to be this weird alternative dialogue that's been continually pushed out by the press. It just has no grounding or basis in real life.

[on his character Freddy Royle] I had nothing to do with the hospital services, or NHS trusts, or the BBC. So how come I knew this rumour about Jimmy Savile, this eccentric British institution? There must have been so much stuff on the grapevine. But there was a whole culture then of not addressing these issues.

[2016 interview, on T2 Trainspotting (2017)] It might not be as well received because it doesn't have the shock of the new, but I have absolutely no doubt that it will be a better movie. Everything's just better now.