ACTOR Brian Cox paid tribute to the former first minister Alex Salmond saying that he was “one of the greatest political thinkers that Scotland has ever produced”.
Cox joined John Swinney as last-minute additions to the BBC’s flagship political show, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, to speak about the sudden passing of Salmond who died in North Macedonia on Saturday.
Kuenssberg started the show by asking Cox about his memories of Salmond. The veteran Scottish actor said he was “an extraordinary” man.
“He was a lot of fun. He was very entertaining,” he said.
READ MORE: Why you should pay for news in the digital era
“He had great humanity. He was probably, I think, one of the greatest political thinkers that Scotland has ever produced, possibly these islands have ever produced.
“He was an extraordinary man.”
Cox continued to speak about how Salmond had been a positive force in his life and how he had managed to shift his political allegiance from Labour to SNP.
He said: “I think his essential appeal was humanity and how he came across to other people.
“When I first met Alex, I was of course not an SNP, I was a Labour supporter.
He continued: “I was very disillusioned, especially with social democracy but I felt that the one place social democracy was happening was back in my own country.
“I had to suddenly rethink my own feelings and Alex, he enabled me to do that.
Cox then added that Salmond’s “great gift” was ironically being a great parliamentarian at Westminster, where he shared a laugh with Kuenssberg.
He said: “Alex’s favourite thing, ironically, when we lost the 2014 referendum, he was really looking forward to getting back into Parliament, because he was a great Parliamentarian.
“That was his great gift and that’s what he loved more than anything else, was the debate, and he loved, ironically, being in the House of Commons which was funny.
He ended by praising Salmond for fighting for the country and that he made Cox realise just how amazing Scotland is and that the country had been treated as a “second class citizen for some time”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel