Scots actor Brian Cox has apologised to striking cleansing workers in Glasgow.

The 75-year-old has also said he hopes to live to see Scotland independent, likening the union to “being at the tap end of the bath for too long”. 

Cox, who plays brusk media tycoon Logan Roy in Succession, said the United Kingdom was no longer united and praised Nicola Sturgeon for doing an “incredible job”. 

Speaking to The Sunday Times to publicise his new autobiography 'Putting the Rabbit in the Hat', the Dundee-born actor also said he wished to apologise to striking cleansing workers in Glasgow for comments made on BBC’s Question Time where he appeared to dismiss their case for improved pay and conditions. 

He said: “I was very naughty. I want to send an apology.

“I was on Question Time and they asked me about it, and I was so fed up with the party political posturing that was going on between everyone and I just thought and said ‘That’s life’.

"I kind of half dismissed it and I have such regret about it because I have such empathy for those people...so I do really want to send an apology about being so glib.”

The actor, who appeared in the films Braveheart and Rob Roy, was asked to affirm his long-standing support for Scottish independence. 

He said: “The United Kingdom is not United.

“We have been at the tap end of the bath long enough. We deserve to have our back against the smooth surface for a while.

“It’s been tough and it is tough, and I think Nicola (Sturgeon) does an incredible job and it’s a tough job. 

“How do you balance the economy with what is happening with the climate.”

Cox, who lives in New York State with his wife, the actress, Nicole Ansari, has previously said he would not return to Scotland to live because the wet climate exacerbates his arthritis but said "there is something about the land".