British actor Ray Winstone said in an interview that citizens of the United Kingdom are “being raped” by high taxes.
“I can see myself leaving,” the actor said in a Saturday interview with the British radio station talkSport. “I love this country, but I’ve had enough.
“I don’t see what we are being given back,” Winstone added. “I just see the country being raped.
“There are more holes in the roads than a tennis racket, we can’t build hospitals — and fire stations are closing.”
Winstone is known for tough-guy roles in movies like “The Departed,” “Sexy Beast,” and “The Sweeney.” He also has appeared in the Martin Scorsese movie “Hugo” and in “Snow White and the Huntsman.”
The 56-year-old former boxer doesn’t think much of British politicians, either.
“I wouldn’t trust any of them,” Winstone said in the interview. “Maybe we should all stop voting and then something would be done about it.”
One minister of Parliament, Kate Green, the Shadow Minister for Equalities, was troubled by Winstone’s choice of words.
“These comments are very upsetting and hurtful to survivors of rape,” Green told the London newspaper The Mirror. “Rape is a vicious and utterly wicked attack on people, which can leave them emotionally and often physically scarred.
“It’s wrong to equate that with having to pay your taxes,” Green said.
Winstone’s threat to leave Britain is not new, however.
“This country isn’t going to the dogs,” he said in a 2008 interview, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s gone to the dogs. We’re a mess. And do I really want to live in this mess anymore? I feel bad saying it, but I’m just not sure.”
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