Scores of young men are to receive thousands of pounds in compensation after the head of the British Royal Air Force told colleagues to stop hiring “useless white male pilots” and to fast-track women and ethnic minorities, according to a leaked email seen by Sky News.
In addition to the alleged directive from Air Chief Marshall Sir Mike Wigton, a number of selection boards designed to place new recruits on courses were said to have been disbanded after they did not include requisite numbers of women and ethnic minorities.
According to Sky News, some 31 white males have been granted £5,000 each as compensation for being subjected to perceived unfair disadvantages in regards to the process. The RAF confirmed that those affected had received payments but did not confirm financial details.
The issue came about after ACM Wigton apparently outlined a drive to encourage more diversity in the British air force.
Sources in defence also told Sky News that hundreds more have been discriminated against.
According to two defence sources, the disclosed information seems to contradict ACM Wigton’s repeated assurances that the endeavours to enhance diversity were not discriminatory towards white men.
The purported revelations carry additional weight considering that ACM Wigton, who is scheduled to step down from his position this week, has consistently maintained that the operational capabilities of his service are never affected. The incoming ACM is Sir Richard Knighton, according to raf.mod.uk.
An RAF spokesperson seemed to support the current chief’s insistence regarding capabilities, saying: “Selection standards were not and have not been altered and there was no compromise of entry standards and no impact on the frontline or operational effectiveness.”
But a defence source with knowledge of emails apparently relating to the affair described their contents as a “smoking gun”.
The latest RAF rumpus comes after Group Captain Elizabeth Nicholl, a highly respected officer in the force who served as recruitment head, had last year refused to allocate slots on RAF training courses based purely on a specific gender or ethnicity, calling such orders “unlawful’.
Others, meanwhile, have labelled the apparent diversity targets as “impossible” and claim the RAF has been shown to “artificially inflate” diversity numbers regarding recruitment policy.
