Farage's Reform UK finally names a defense spokesperson
Britain's right-wing Reform UK party has appointed former RAF officer Angus MacIntyre as its defense spokesperson after more than two years without one. He will help shape the party's defense policy ahead of the next general election.
Reform UK, the right-wing British party led by Nigel Farage, announced on Thursday that Angus MacIntyre will be its new spokesperson on the armed forces. The party has gone more than two years without a dedicated voice on the issue and still lacks a detailed military policy, even though defense and the threat from Russia rank among British voters' top concerns. MacIntyre will help build the party's defense platform before the next election.
MacIntyre served in the military for 40 years and retired last week as a wing commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF) to take the post. Farage said that recruiting someone of his standing shows how seriously the party takes the interests of Britain's military. MacIntyre blamed successive Conservative and Labour governments for underfunding the armed forces.
A senior party official said Reform wants to enter government with a comprehensive program rather than a thin manifesto with a few headline pledges. Party officials attribute the delay to a wish to avoid releasing piecemeal ideas that opponents could attack.
Farage and Russia
Farage continues to be dogged by remarks he made in 2014, when he said he "admired" Russian President Vladimir Putin as an "operator." He has since called Putin "a very bad dude" and said the U.K. should shoot down Russian jets in British airspace. He has also called Kyiv "corrupt" and promised to review British military aid to Ukraine. One defense industry representative described those comments as unhelpful.
Sophia Gaston, a British foreign policy researcher, said 83% of Reform backers favor more defense spending, and 92% regard Russia as a threat to global peace.
Existing policy
Reform already supports raising defense spending to 3% of GDP by 2030 and meeting NATO's 3.5% target by 2035, in line with the governing Labour Party. It says it would fund this through £45 billion of cuts elsewhere, such as welfare. Its current proposals mostly concern immigration and benefits for service personnel, including deploying the Royal Navy against small-boat crossings in the Channel.
Industry representatives say the absence of a spokesperson and policy has left them with nobody to engage. Reform now plans to publish detailed defense policy papers and expand its foreign policy team over the next year.
