Senior RAF figure to be appointed as Reform UK’s armed forces spokesman

A senior RAF officer will be appointed as Reform UK’s armed forces spokesman, the party is expected to announce. Angus MacIntyre, an RAF Wing Commander with a military career spanning 40 years, will be unveiled as Reform’s “shadow armed forces minister” and defence spokesman on Thursday. Reform officials were keen to point out that his military experience dwarfs that of Labour’s defence team, two of whom have served in the armed forces for a combined 31 years.

Mr MacIntyre, who has stood down from his RAF role to take up the Reform job, said he had decided to answer the “call” from Reform leader Nigel Farage , who invited people from outside of the world of Westminster to join his party’s senior ranks. “Earlier this year, Nigel said he wanted people from outside of politics with real-world experience to come and help Reform UK fix broken Britain,” Reform’s new armed forces spokesman said. He added: “Last week I ended a 40-year military career to answer that call.”

The Reform spokesman blamed the Tories and Labour for underfunding the military (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Archive Mr MacIntyre continued: “I can think of no better way to continue my service to our great nation than by standing alongside Nigel Farage and the Reform UK team and explaining why, despite the current state of our country and her armed forces, our best days still lie ahead. “The two old guard parties have left our armed forces under severe pressure.

“The cuts during the Brown and Blair years took chunks from the ranks of all three services. “The Conservatives promised to fix it, but over their 14 years in government, they oversaw a further decline in our military power. “Neither can be trusted. “Only Reform UK can fix and rebuild our armed forces.” The new Reform spokesman’s military career began in the British Army in 1986. He took part in attachments to the Royal Marines and Parachute Regiment, with deployments in Arctic Norway, Northern Ireland and the jungles of Brunei.

In 1999, he transferred to the RAF Regiment, the specialist ground forces who protect airfields, and completed operational tours in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Iraq, and Somalia. His later career has seen him work in academia, earning an MA in applied security strategy at the University of Exeter, and in global affairs: he spent a year in Mogadishu with the UN headquarters in Somalia, negotiating between the UN and Somali National Army.

Mr MacIntyre also spent 12 months in the Pentagon as a strategic planner, contributing to work on infectious diseases and the US’s Space Force. He most recently completed a course on the changing character of war at Pembroke College, Oxford, and has lectured on Nato deterrence at All Souls College, Oxford, according to Reform. Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage MP said: “Having someone of Angus’s stature and calibre speak for us on defence shows how seriously Reform UK takes protecting the interests of Britain’s military.

“Angus has more experience than the entire Government defence team combined. “He is representative of our drive to bring into politics people with high-level and real-world experience – as opposed to career politicians – to run government departments.” The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales in dock at Portsmouth harbour, Hampshire (Andrew Matthews/PA) PA Archive Ahead of a press conference announcing Mr MacIntyre’s appointment, Labour has sought to suggest that Reform’s plan for the first 100 days of Government would not do enough to defend the country.

Defence minister Luke Pollard branded it Reform’s “defenceless plan”, as the Labour Party pointed out that the document makes no reference to the military or national security. A Reform UK spokesman said: “Neither Mr Pollard nor the Defence Secretary has served a single day in uniform. “If Labour’s solution to the crisis they helped to create amongst our armed forces is answering planted questions in Parliament all day, then they are even more clueless than we feared.

“Unlike Labour, who put welfare before defence and still can’t fund their own Defence Investment Plan, Reform will raise defence spending to 3.5% by 2035, reverse the managed decline of our forces, and fix broken Britain.” With Mr MacIntyre’s appointment, Reform now has eight “frontbench” spokespeople. The others include deputy leader Richard Tice in the business and trade brief, Robert Jenrick covering the Treasury, Zia Yusuf covering home affairs, Suella Braverman covering education, and Lee Anderson covering work and pensions.

The number is rounded out by Danny Kruger as Reform’s head of “preparation for government”, and Mr Farage as leader. The party is yet to have appointed spokespeople for other major areas of Government policy, including healthcare, transport, and housing.