Sunday Mail SIR SEAN: HOME FOR ME IS THE BAHAMAS
Heather Greenaway SIR SEAN CONNERY yesterday vowed he will never return to live in Scotland until the nation is independent. Asked where he thought home was now, the actor replied: "Here. In the Bahamas." At 72, the screen veteran still believes he will get the chance to live in Scotland again - firmly declaring that independence will happen "in my lifetime". But for now, he says, the pressure of living in Scotland would be too much. He said: "I couldn't live in Scotland just now with what they would do to me, frankly, the media and all that. "They crucify people. People seem to need more and more of it and they have to go further and further to compete. "Living in Edinburgh, I would have a real problem going around. I don't have a problem when I go out now. "I walk everywhere. I don't have a bodyguard, don't have a minder. I go to football games, I go to boxing matches, I go to the cinema, walk to the theatre in London because it's quicker than the taxi. "I don't have a problem walking and nobody bothers me when I'm up there for the film festival, but daily life there, based there, no. I have a house here and my wife has an apartment in New York. "To go from here to Europe is a long trip, whereas going to Florida from here is half an hour, New York is two. It makes more sense for my work to be based here and also I'm very much a loner, I'm not a group guy." The Oscar-winning star added: "I honestly believe Scotland will become independent and I will have a house in Scotland - but not until then. "If I do retire, and I have no idea if I will retire or not, then I'd certainly spend much more time there." He added: "I don't know what they are frightened of with independence. "There will be an independent Scotland in my lifetime." He added proudly: "I am a Scot first and an SNP man second." Earlier this week, Connery slammed the critics of his Bahamas tax exile status - and revealed he has paid £3.7million in British tax over the last six years. Sean has turned his Bahamas base into a home from home - a little bit of Scotland minus the dreich drizzle of Edinburgh. Above the bathroom door hangs a battered Fountainbridge road sign. It was a present from a friend, who paid £100 for it when the area where Connery once did a milk round was being demolished. The rusty artefact shows the star is keen to hang on to the familiar aspects of his Scots life which have all disappeared - his Edinburgh home and his parents, both dead. The house is not crammed with "tartan tat" or shortbread tins, but Scots photography and history books feature heavily on his shelves. And there is a fine view of the golf course, another reminder of Scotland.
|
|||||