KEN LOACH at the The British Independent Film Awards, London, England- 30.11.05

The 68-year-old KES director was showcasing new movie THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY, which is competing for the prestigious Palme d'Or at the festival.

The film, one of the most violent Loach has made, is set around the Irish Civil War and the movie-maker was keen to apply its moral to modern day politics too.

He said, "I think the story of a struggle for independence is a story that reoccurs and reoccurs and reoccurs so it's always a good time to tell that story.

"There are always armies of occupation somewhere in the world being resisted by the people they're occupying, and I don't need to tell anyone here where the British now illegally have an army of occupation, and the damage in casualties and brutality that is emerging from that."

He later branded the ongoing Iraq conflict an "appalling scar" on the British and American Governments' record.