Succession star Brian Cox compares US to police state after attacks on free speech
The Succession star told Andrew Marr he is becoming "very concerned" over the situation
Actor Brian Cox has described free speech in the United States as "getting rapidly squeezed" and compared it to being in a "police state."
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Speaking with LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr, the Succession star also admitted he faces a "risk" to be allowed back into the US if the country introduces mandatory border checks on social media activity spanning the previous five years.
It comes after President Donald Trump proposed possible changes to immigration systems which could affect tourists from dozens of countries ahead of next year's World Cup.
Asked if the US had faced an "erosion" to its free speech, Mr Cox, who previously lived in New York, said: "Absolutely. We're believers in free speech and that seems to be getting rapidly squeezed in this country [the US].
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"I have been back here for a while now, and I can see the attacks they have made on people like Stephen Colbert, also Seth Myers and Jimmy Kimmel.
"These great talk show hosts who are quite liberal. They're not one way or the other. And I think those voices they want them still, they want them quiet.
"Rachel Maddow, who is a great journalist as well here, so I really get very concerned with the what's happening here. That's why it's very important to be British."
The Scottish star also shared his concerns amid reports Sir Keir Starmer is pushing for reforms to the ECHR.
The Prime Minister wants European leaders to urgently update and "go further" in modernising its joint human rights laws to prevent asylum seekers using it to avoid deportation.
Mr Cox said: "I'm not altogether happy about that because also we're kow-towing to what is an unstable leadership here in the US, and that is dangerous. I can understand from Starmer's point of view what he felt he needed to do.
"But he really should have thought about the animal he was dealing with, and been a bit more judicious and a bit more political, actually, in relationship to him, rather than giving in to him as clearly, what is what happened."
He added: "The immigration crisis is getting more and more huge. Everybody complains about the boats coming from Calais to the UK with these immigrants on board.
"I think the filtering system has to be a lot stronger than it is, but they are immigrants, and a lot of them are actually on the run from oppressive regimes, and that's what we've got to understand, and that's what we've always understood.
"But at the moment, with people like Farage, who is so anti anything, that's not what he calls British, but it's not what I call British, because what I call British is something which is incredibly inclusive, not something which is rigid and narrow."
When asked by Andrew if asked if he believes he could have difficulty getting back into the US if the administration trawls through the past five years of his social media posts, Mr Cox said: "Well, that's a risk I'm going to have to take, unfortunately.
"I like this country [the US], and it's a young country, and it's a country that's forming, and with Mamdani now in New York, there's a possibility - and it's the young people.
"The young people are fed up. They're absolutely fed up with what's going on. And my kids are of that generation, and they are just biding their time.
"They're being very careful. They have to be very careful because it's almost like being in a police state, quite honestly at the moment."