The Royal Air Force admitted for the first time that “mistakes were made” with its recruitment practices following a series of allegations that the service prioritized ethnic minority candidates and women over white men to achieve “impossible” diversity targets.
In the latest revelation, a leaked email raised concerns about how an IT recruitment system that ranks candidates on merit would be “problematic” for the RAF and have “huge implications” for how the air force attacks its targets. female and ethnic minorities.
The internal message, dated April 9, 2021, also stated that top hiring priority for Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, head of the RAF, it was ethnic minorities and women.
Written by a recruiting branch officer, the email discussed how the Royal Navy was developing a “scoring matrix” as part of a new IT system to rank recruits according to ability.
He said the RAF “could certainly use it on occasion”.
But the flight lieutenant wrote: “I remain of the view that moving to merit-based selection using scores obtained in candidate assessments would be problematic for the RAF, with huge implications for how we do things to achieve our objectives.” “.
In response to questions about the leaked email and following weeks of wider allegations over concerns about certain RAF recruiting actions and their legality, an RAF spokesperson issued a new statement on Monday evening.
“The RAF is constantly reviewing its recruitment practices, including the introduction earlier this year of the new IT recruitment system, to improve the diversity of its workforce,” the spokesperson said.
“While overall standards did not drop, with 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. It would be inappropriate to comment further while this is ongoing.”
The spokesperson could not say at this time what the specific errors had been, pointing out that the MoD launched an investigation earlier this month following the resignation of the RAF recruiting chief in August.
The group’s captain resigned – as revealed by Sky News – because she had refused to implement what she considered an “illegal” order to prioritize the selection of ethnic minorities and women over white men for training courses.
The latest leaked email was first revealed by former RAF fast jet pilot Tim Davies on his YouTube channel.
“Just get this straight,” Davies said in the video posted Sunday.
“If they select based on merit, it will be a problem for the Royal Air Force because they have targets they have to achieve.
“More officers in the service, honestly think about challenging this! I don’t know why I’m doing this job for you. I’m not even in the service right now. It’s embarrassing.”
When asked about the authenticity of the email, Davies told Sky News he believed it was authentic.
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Howard Wheeldon, a renowned defense analyst, called the revelations “absolutely shocking.”
“Make no mistake, this is not an issue that can be easily swept under the carpet because it affects not only those looking to join the RAF but all those who are serving today and where it could ultimately impact In his personal life”. progress and possible promotion in the future,” she wrote in a blog post on Monday.
“I’m sure we all agree that diversity and inclusion policies are important and that, when practical and sensible, they should play a role in promoting a more diverse range of people in the military. But in the military , this should never be “It is done at the expense and importance of merit is seen as the primary goal for excellence and advancement.”
Air Chief Marshal Wigston has previously defended his service’s recruiting practices.
“We continue to recruit people based on their merits,” said the chief of the Air Staff at the beginning of September. “We will always seek a more diverse RAF in ways that are fair, and rightly there is a healthy debate within the Royal Air Force about the best way to address this.”
An RAF source said recruitment, in general, is always a top priority for the service, not just for ethnic minorities and women.
