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Dundee actor Brian Cox switched from Labour to supporting independence to put Scotland ‘first’

Brian Cox, appearing on The Andrew Marr Show

Dundee-born actor and star of Succession Brian Cox says he chose to move away from Labour to supporting independence to put Scotland “first”.

The award-winning actor says Scotland has “always been sidelined”, saying he chose to move away from Labour because of the Iraq war and the “failure of social democracy”.

Previously Mr Cox had voiced Labour election broadcasts in 1997, the year Tony Blair came to power in the UK.

Ten years later he also starred in a party political broadcast for Scottish Labour.

However in 2012 he switched to supporting Scottish independence, and even took part in the launch of Yes Scotland alongside Alex Salmond.

Actor ‘concerned’ about Labour’s direction

Mr Cox appeared on The Andrew Marr Show alongside current Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, saying he is “disgusted” about what is happening to Scotland.

Sir Keir Starmer and Brian Cox appeared together on The Andrew Marr Show

He said: “I was the voice of Labour in 1997.

“I helped, I did all the ads, and I gave myself to it.

“But at the end of the day Scotland is prime for me.”

When asked why his politics had changed, he said: “We really haven’t got enough time.

“It is a long story and it comes really down to what I thought was a failure of social democracy.

“Also the Iraq war – that affected me, Blair’s hubris affected me, and I saw the party going in a certain direction and I was really very concerned.”

Scotland ‘sidelined’ time and time again

Mr Cox told Andrew Marr he still sees himself as a socialist, and says he agrees with Sir Keir Starmer on “many things”.

He added: “My country was traduced for long enough, time and time again.

Actor Brian Cox

“We voted 62% to stay in Europe and we were ignored, and if you think about the Thatcher years we were ignored.

“So Scotland has always been sidelined.

“I look at what happened in the north at the last election and I was devastated by that because I am a socialist.

“But I have to put my country first because I look at what has happened to my country and I am disgusted.

“And the penny only dropped later because I was young, I was ambitious, and I wasn’t thinking about politics.”

Sir Keir: We have a lot to do in Scotland

Sir Keir accepted the star’s comments and said: “It is certainly true we have to do a lot of work in Scotland.

“The most important thing is actually about respect, and listening to Scotland has to be a central part of this.”

However he added Labour would not do a deal with the SNP to help win power at Westminster.