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Brian Cox says Scotland 'mustn't give up pursuit of independence' post-Sturgeon

Brian Cox at the opening of the London Stock Exchange <i>(Image: Ian West)</i>
Brian Cox at the opening of the London Stock Exchange (Image: Ian West)

SCOTS actor Brian Cox has said that Scotland must not give up the pursuit of independence following Nicola Sturgeon ’s departure next week.

Cox was opening the London Stock Exchange to celebrate the release of the final season of Succession in the UK on Monday.

Speaking to Sky News he said that filming the show and returning to his hometown of Dundee brought home the scale of inequality within the UK.

“I think we really need to rethink our politics,” he said. “Our politics is in deep s**t really and has seemed to be in deep s**t for the last 12 years.

“That’s the point of doing the show; it’s a great social satire. Its about the horrific wealth gap.

“We don’t see very many poor people in Succession. They’re ignored and it’s a question that you should ask yourself: why are they ignored?

“Because those people [media barons] are not interested in what’s going on in the lower strata of life.

“I went home to my hometown in Scotland, Dundee. And I went back to where I grew up and the place was a mess. It’s a total mess.

“At the foodbanks people feel like they are begging and human dignity is so, so important to people.

The National:
The National:

“And that’s what’s happening. You take someone’s dignity away and you try and reduce them to nothing.”

When asked about his thoughts on Nicola Sturgeon’s departure after being First Minister for eight years, he said that independence was the right way forward for all the nations of the UK.

READ MORE: A24 to adapt Glasgow author Douglas Stuart's Young Mungo for TV

He said: “We mustn’t give up the pursuit of independence.

“We can’t separate ourselves off, we are part of these British Isles, but we should no longer be a United Kingdom.

“We should be a united federation. We should be separate, autonomous states.”

The 76-year-old actor was also asked about how he dealt with fans of his sweary character Logan Roy.

“They come up and they say ‘can I take a photo of you telling me to f**k off?’ “And you go, now, that’s the easiest thing in the world to say because I really do want you to f**k off”.

The National’s sneak preview review of the first episode of the new season is available here.