RAF chief ‘refused to prioritise minorities for training’

A ROYAL Air Force recruitment chief refused orders to ‘prioritise women and ethnic minorities over white men’ because she believed it was illegal, a leaked document reveals.

A copy of the leaked email shows the group captain telling her boss that she thought allocating slots on RAF training courses based only on gender or ethnicity was ‘unlawful’, according to Sky News.

Defence sources said the unnamed chief resigned on the same day over the ‘course loading’, which has sparked concerns about positive discrimination, an illegal practice, within the RAF.

The officer, who has been described as a highly regarded individual, wrote in her email on August 4: ‘This is unlawful… I am not prepared to delegate or abdicate the responsibility

‘Resigned on the same day’

of actioning that order to my staff.’

A minister had said on Friday that any evidence of positive discrimination within the RAF would be investigated and that the Government would hold anyone responsible to account.

Positive discrimination is the unlawful preference or promotion of someone based on a protected characteristic such as gender, sexual orientation or skin colour, under equality legislation.

It comes after the Armed Forces minister, James Heappey, refuted claims that a ‘pause’ had been put in place on job offers for white men in favour of women and ethnic minorities, in order to hit ‘impossible’ diversity targets.