'Unlawful' Diversity Order Pushed RAF Recruitment Boss to Quit, Report Says

Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) had tried artificially to raise its in-house diversity numbers to meet hiring targets in 2021 by prioritizing women and ethnic minority candidates when allocating slots in training courses, Sky News reported, quoting separate defense sources.

The head of the British Royal Air Force’s recruiting team quit earlier this month over an “unlawful” order from her chain of command to "prioritize women and ethnic minority candidates over white men" when allocating RAF training slots, reported Sky News.

The senior female officer, whose identity has not been revealed, wrote in an email to her superior dated 4 August that she was “not prepared to delegate or abdicate the responsibility of actioning that order” to staff, according to a leaked copy of the message cited by the outlet.

In line with the order, ostensibly issued two days earlier by Air Vice-Marshal Maria Byford, the chief of staff personnel, the recruitment team was "to course load any remaining women and EM [ethnic minorities] in those priority professions that are ready, even if the EA [enlisted aviator] candidates are not 'first past the post'."

The RAF typically uses the first past the post system when recruiting non-officers, allowing slots on training courses to be given to candidates who excel at passing aptitude, medical and fitness tests.

"This direction is to make offers of employment to additional women and EM [ethnic minority] candidates solely on the basis of their protected characteristics and in preference to non-EM men who have successfully passed all selection criteria ahead of them,” the group captain wrote in the leaked email.

"I strongly agree that it is incredibly important to do all within our collective power to support the RAF's commitment to increasing diversity. This should, however, be achieved through lawful and proportionate means," the senior officer reportedly wrote.

Amid concerns that implementation of the move might be perceived as positive discrimination, which is illegal, the recruiting team boss refused to carry out the order or force it upon her team, according to cited defense sources. "Positive discrimination" gives preference to a person because of his or her sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc, regardless of whether they have the right skills for it.

The leader of the RAF’s 450-strong recruiting team reportedly resigned on the same day the email was sent.

The Group Captain Recruitment & Selection, based at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire, also laid out the reasons for her resignation in a separate letter sent to her line managers, insiders added.

‘Impossible’ Diversity Targets

Sky News reported on 16 August that the unnamed head of RAF recruitment had quit over what defense sources described as an "effective pause" on offering jobs to white men in favor of women and ethnic minorities to achieve "impossible" diversity targets.

In response, UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey on Friday said any evidence of potential positive discrimination within the RAF would be investigated and those responsible held to account.

As to the “pause” that defense sources claimed started in late June, Heappey offered a different explanation for it. According to him, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, who heads the RAF, had asked that offering training slots to all candidates be put on hold while legal steps were being considered to assist improving diversity levels on various training courses in the year to March 2023.

"If there are avenues for the chief of the air staff to look at positive action, then that's fine and he's created himself room to do that. But we must be absolutely clear that no policy is implemented," Heappey stated.

Weighing in on the report, a spokesman for the RAF said:

"We frequently review our recruitment processes, seeking legal advice to ensure that we are mindful of our legal obligations. Any allegations that we have failed to do so are investigated without delay. The concern raised in this instance was addressed by the chain of command at the time and we continue our work to ensure recruitment processes remain compliant with all policy and legal requirements."

The report comes as all three armed services, the RAF, the Army and the Royal Navy, have been under pressure by defense chiefs to improve their diversity statistics.

The Ministry of Defence recently announced its goal of increasing the ratio of female recruits in the Armed Forces to 30 percent by 2030, and the RAF is hoping to hit a target of 40 percent of female air force recruits by the end of the decade. That would be more than double the present level. As for ethnic minorities, the target is 20 percent of all air force recruits.