He may give the impression of being ‘the daddy', either a hard man gangland enforcer or a take no prisoners cop, depending on which script has landed on his doormat.
But it seems Ray Winstone is no friend of local government. Certainly, members of the Local Government Association's executive lambasted the star of Scum, Quadrophenia, Sexy Beast and The Sweeney, for his willingness to take the shilling of gambling firms while threatening to settle in more amenable tax climes.
