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Actor Jeremy Irons has left gay rights campaigners bewildered after suggesting same sex marriage could lead to fathers marrying their sons to avoid inheritance tax

In a bizarre interview, the star, 64, who plays Pope Alexander VI in The Borgias, mused: “Could a father not marry his son?”

When the Huffington Post interviewer reminded him of laws against incest, he said: “It’s not incest between men.

“Incest is there to protect us from inbreeding, but men don’t breed”.

His remarks were branded “bizarre” by gay rights campaign group Stonewall.

Irons, who is married to Irish actress Sinead Cusack, also pitched in to the debate on civil partnerships versus same sex marriage.

He said: “It seems to me that now they’re fighting for the name.

"I worry that it means somehow we debase, or we change, what marriage is. I just worry about that.”