Why is the National so scandalised by my Spectator internship?

Spectator

6 hours ago

Last week, I had the privilege of interning with the broadcast team at The Spectator ­– a magazine that has been stirring up debate since 1828. True to form, my arrival seemed to do the same. A Scottish newspaper managed to spin my internship into something resembling a scandal because I'm currently a sitting councillor in Renfrewshire. The whole thing would be flattering if it wasn't so confusing.
I suspect the real issue is not the internship. It is my defection – and my decision to challenge the political orthodoxy of the mainstream parties
According to the National, 'a Scottish Reform defector has been called out for taking a new job with the London-based Spectator magazine.' It's certainly true that I recently joined Reform after leaving the Labour party, but the claim that I have 'taken a job' at The Spectator is news to me and, I suspect, to payroll. To be clear, I was there for the week. The internship had no effect on my council duties. After my shift each day, I completed my casework as usual and posted regular updates for residents on Facebook.
I suspect the real issue is not the internship. It is my defection – and my decision to challenge the political orthodoxy of the mainstream parties. Papers like the National can't even comprehend why someone would consider joining Reform. But given the state of our politics, it should be obvious why people like me are defecting. Britain is not just facing challenges – it is being actively failed. Public services are collapsing. The tax system punishes aspiration. The immigration system is broken. The old parties offer only minor tweaks to a system that clearly doesn't work. Reform UK is the only party offering structural change.
At the moment we have a political environment where delivery is deprioritised, and honest debate actively discouraged. Far too often, performance has taken the place of purpose. In Holyrood, a parliamentary day was spent debating who should use which toilets – while town centres are in decline, businesses close, crime increases, and essential services are underfunded. We're told 'there's no money' – except when it's for political virtue signalling, net zero campaigns, or the latest quango.
The scale of the waste is dumbfounding. Zia Yusuf, through his Doge unit, is beginning to uncover evidence of industrial-scale mismanagement in local government. Kent County Council, for example, is currently spending £350 million on a four-year contract – not to deliver vital frontline services, but for recruitment services. While roads deteriorate and housing crumbles, we are spending hundreds of millions on bureaucracy. It perfectly illustrates how skewed our priorities have become.
Nowhere is that more obvious than with net zero, which is well-intentioned but economically disastrous. The UK contributes just 1 per cent of global emissions, yet we've hamstrung our own energy sector for the sake of political virtue signalling. We import oil and gas while sitting on abundant domestic resources. Reform will issue new North Sea licences, get drilling, and create jobs – reducing our reliance on foreign energy and making Britain prosperous again.
I was originally drawn to Labour as the party of the working-class. But being 'working class' isn't just about income, it's about values: pride in work, belief in fairness and a desire to get on in life. Increasingly, what I saw from Labour was a mindset that treats aspiration as something suspect. If you come from a deprived background, you're expected to settle for less – not reach for more.
Reform UK understands that people want more than just survival. They want dignity, opportunity, and the chance to succeed on their own terms. It's a party that believes in backing ambition and getting the basics right. That is why I joined – because that's what the country needs.
I saw this in Larkhall, walking alongside Nigel Farage when he visited Scotland earlier this month. People saw someone speaking plainly, listening carefully and understanding the reality they live every day. That's something few modern politicians even attempt – let alone achieve.
Some have claimed I left Labour to advaance my own career. The truth is, staying would have been far easier. I could have kept my head down and climbed the internal ladder. But that isn't why I came into politics.
Labour currently has a landslide majority in parliament yet no clear vision. Nearly a year into government, the Prime Minister visits the Red Wall not to offer investment or renewal – but to warn voters about Nigel Farage. Labour fears Farage because he speaks to one of the largest and most overlooked voting blocs in British politics – the millions who no longer vote at all. The mainstream parties have written these people off. They focus on swing voters and their traditional base, not those who feel politics has nothing to offer them. Nigel Farage and Reform UK are taking a different approach. They understand that politics isn't just a competition to govern – it's about changing lives. It's the same energy that drove Brexit – a movement powered not by elites, but by ordinary people demanding real change. And it will be the same force that reshapes politics again in 2029 when Reform is elected to government.
Britain needs new energy, new ideas, and a new approach. I left Labour not out of convenience, but out of conviction. And I will continue making this case – even if that makes me unpopular with Scotland's less credible newspapers.
And in the meantime, I'd recommend The Spectator internship to anyone. It's like being welcomed into a family – assuming your family makes podcasts before breakfast, produces weekly political commentary, and accidentally causes a media storm just by inviting you over.