Reform UK to Name RAF Wing Commander as Armed Forces Spokesman

Reform UK is set to unveil RAF Wing Commander Angus MacIntyre as its armed forces spokesman on Thursday 5 November. MacIntyre has a 40-year military career, having joined the Army in 1986 before moving to the RAF Regiment in 1999. He has served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia, and stood down from the RAF to take the post.

He spent a year in Mogadishu negotiating between the United Nations and the Somali National Army, and 12 months at the Pentagon as a strategic planner. MacIntyre said he was answering a call from Nigel Farage. Reform has pledged to raise defence spending to 3.5 percent of GDP by 2035. Details may develop further.

Labour defence minister Luke Pollard dismissed Reform's 100-day plan as defenceless. MacIntyre will become Reform's eighth frontbench spokesperson, counting Farage himself, as the party builds its policy team for the next general election. The appointment is likely to keep defence spending and veterans' policy firmly in the political spotlight. Details may develop further.