Brian Cox hails Alex Salmond as 'one of the greatest political thinkers' the UK has ever produced

-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Brian Cox has hailed Alex Salmond as 'one of the greatest political thinkers' the British Isles has ever produced.

The Succession star said today he was a "a disillusioned Labour supporter" until he first met the then SNP leader, who over time convinced him to support Scottish independence.

Salmond's sudden death at the age of 69 was announced yesterday, with messages of condolence pouring in from across the political spectrum.

Appearing on the Laura Kuenssberg Show today, Cox said: “He was a lot of fun.

“He was very entertaining. He had great humanity, he was probably I think one of the greatest political thinkers, certainly Scotland has ever produced, and I think possibly these islands have ever produced.

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“He was an extraordinary man. I think his essential appeal was his humanity and how he came across to other people.”

He said when he first met Salmond he was a disillusioned Labour supporter.

“I felt the one place where social democracy was happening was back in my own country, so I suddenly had to rethink my own feelings and Alex enabled me to do that,” the Hollywood star added.

Reflecting on his upbringing in Dundee, Cox added: "I looked at the Tay and thought I’m going to cross that one day and get down to the south,” he said. "When I got older I realised actually my country’s not bad, in fact my country is pretty damn good.

"And Alex really fought for the country."

Cox, who has starred on stage and screen for more than 50 years, was previously a firm Labour supporter. He previously revealed how he voiced TV campaign adverts for the party in 1997.

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.”

Cox said the war in Iraq and the Brexit referendum, when 62 per cent of Scots voted for to stay in the European Union, had been factors in his move away from Labour.

Asked why his politics has changed, the actor 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.”

Cox insisted he was a “socialist” saying he agreed with Labour leader Keir Starmer on “many things”.

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