UK Admits ‘Mistakes’ After RAF Allegedly Discriminated Against White Men to Boost Diversity

Graduating cadets parade at the Graduation Ceremony of the Queens Squadron and Sovereigns Review, at RAF College Cranwell, in eastern England, on July 16, 2020. Julian Simmonds /Pool/AFP via Getty Images

The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted that “some mistakes were made” in recruitment after it was reported the Royal Air Force (RAF) unlawfully discriminated against white men in an attempt to boost diversity.

Sky News reported in August that the RAF’s head of recruitment resigned after refusing to follow an order to prioritise women and ethnic minority candidates over white men.

In an email to her boss, seen by Sky News, the group captain said she was not willing to allocate slots on RAF training courses based purely on a specific gender or ethnicity, as it was against equality legislation and against the RAF’s own legal guidance.

The RAF denied there was any discrimination in its recruitment practices. But the MoD has now admitted “some mistakes were made.”

Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston speaks during a service marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain at Westminster Abbey, in central London, on Sept. 20, 2020. Aaron Chown /Pool/AFP via Getty Images

‘No Discrimination’

Asked about the allegations of discrimination, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, head of the RAF, told Sky News on Sept. 13, “There was absolutely no drop in operational standards, no drop in any standards.”

“There was no discrimination against any group, no standards were dropped, there was no discrimination against any group,” he insisted.

Wigston said the RAF will “do everything we can to recruit from the widest pool of talent,” and said the approach has not “in any way detracted from our operational standards and our operational service.”

Merit Versus Diversity

But another leaked email, publicised by former RAF fast jet pilot Tim Davies on his YouTube channel on Sept. 25, suggested that the force was indeed ready to compromise operational standards for the sake of diversity.

The internal message, written by an officer in the RAF recruitment branch on April 9, 2021, said Wigston’s top recruitment priority was ethnic minorities and women.

The officer expressed reservations about a new IT system used by the Royal Navy, which ranks recruits according to ability, saying, “I still hold the view that moving to a merit-based sift using scores achieved from assessments for candidates would be problematic for the RAF with huge implications on how we do things to achieve our targets.”

The RAF’s diversity target is for 40 percent of all new recruits to be women and 20 percent to be from ethnic minorities by 2030.

‘Utterly Shocking’

Defence analyst Howard Wheeldon called the revelations “utterly shocking.”

Boosting diversity in the military “must never be done at the expense and importance of merit being seen as the primary objective for excellence and advancement,” he wrote in a blog post.

In a statement issued on Sept. 26, an MoD spokesperson acknowledged, “While overall standards did not drop, in hindsight we accept that despite the best of intentions, some mistakes were made.”

“The RAF is now confident that our approach is correct, however we are investigating some processes and decisions taken in the past, so it would be inappropriate to comment further while this is ongoing,” the spokesperson added.

PA Media contributed to this report.