Reform UK's defence spokesman, Angus MacIntyre, has vowed that wounded British veterans will receive priority NHS treatment and housing support for life under a Reform government. In an exclusive interview with the Express, MacIntyre, a 40-year military veteran, promised a better deal for veterans "from day one," including priority medical care and much greater support on housing for them and their families.
Veterans Left on Waiting Lists
MacIntyre highlighted the treatment of injured troops who are left languishing on waiting lists. He described the case of one soldier, left in agony after being blown up in Afghanistan, who now faces a five-year wait for a new hip. MacIntyre said, "They saved his legs and arms, but they were smashed to pieces and he's been rebuilt slowly, in constant pain."
That British hero had "one hip replacement [...] and a shoulder joint replacement" but had been left "on a five-year waiting list for a hip with no priority." MacIntyre fumed, "Somebody like that should be at the front of the queue for the rest of their lives, period, done. I'm not going to pick on certain groups, but there will be people less worthy of a place at the front of the queue than an individual like that. So something is wrong."
Rewriting the Rulebook on Veterans' Care
MacIntyre, who served with the Parachute Regiment before joining the RAF Regiment, said Reform would tear up and rewrite the rulebook on veterans' care. He said, "We will look at the Armed Forces Covenant and the whole package - what else can we do for the serving cohort, and what can we do better for veterans?" The Armed Forces Covenant already promises veterans priority NHS care for conditions linked to their service, subject to clinical need, but campaigners have long warned that too many former troops are slipping through the cracks.
MacIntyre said Reform could look to America's Veterans Administration as a model. He said, "You hear criticism of how long the VA takes, but the Americans have a million men and women under arms, including the Space Force and the Coast Guard. We don't need an organisation on that scale, but we certainly need something better."
Housing Support for Veterans
MacIntyre also revealed how he had to step in personally to stop a young serviceman and his family being turfed into a shelter. He said, "In 2006 or 2007 I was discharging a young man from my own organisation - him, his wife and two children - and he was offered no place on a housing list in Newcastle, where he wanted to go. He was told he'd go into a shelter until he got a place. We cut him a deal: he got a posting for two years where he could take his family, which probably saved him and his marriage."
He warned, "But we can't always do that. There will be people with families who are discharged into very unsatisfactory situations, and that's got to stop." MacIntyre said he was covering the entire defence brief for Reform, backed by "a huge network of volunteers, unpaid, who bring huge levels of experience."
