Succession's Brian Cox explains to Starmer why he stopped backing Labour
- Published
Brian Cox (r) said there were lots of things that he and Sir Keir Starmer agreed on
There are "a lot more discussions" to be had to bring actor Brian Cox, formerly a staunch Labour supporter, back into the party fold, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
Mr Cox, who once voiced adverts for the party, switched to the SNP in 2015.
The star, appearing alongside Sir Keir on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show, said Labour had moved in a "certain direction" he disliked.
Sir Keir admitted there was a "lot of hard work to do" to woo him back.
Dundee-born Mr Cox, a famed stage actor and the first man to play serial killer Hannibal Lecter on screen, spoke at former Labour leader John Smith's funeral in 1994 and voiced some of the party's campaigns during the 1990s.
Asked by Andrew Marr why he had left, he replied: "It's a long story and it comes down to what I felt was a failure of social democracy, particularly around 2012, 2010.
"Also the Iraq war - that affected me. [Former Prime Minister Tony] Blair's hubris affected me. And I saw the party going in a certain direction and I was really very concerned, because I am a socialist. I'm riven. I'm very riven about the party."
Mr Cox added: "I totally agree with Keir on so many things, but [Scotland] was traduced for long enough, time and time again."
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The SNP currently holds 45 parliamentary seats in Scotland, compared with just one for Labour. At the 1997 UK election, Labour took 56 seats and the SNP six.
Sir Keir said: "It is certainly true that we have to do a lot of hard work in Scotland.
"I think what Brian has said is really the most important thing, which is actually respecting and listening to Scotland has to be an essential part of this, not an afterthought, not a secondary consideration. I think there's space for that discussion.
"And I actually do think there's a lot that we would agree on and that is a good basis for building the future. But have we got a lot of work to do? Yes, we have."
"[There is] a lot more discussion for us to have," he said of Mr Cox.