RAF chief: Stop taking on ‘useless’ white male pilots

AN RAF commander told colleagues to stop hiring ‘useless white male pilots’, according to a leaked email.

Squadron Leader Andrew Harwin said he would pause the instruction programme unless more women and ethnic minority candidates were found.

His thoughts, expressed in the email, offer further evidence of a politically correct bias by senior officers, beyond the legal boundaries of positive discrimination.

The policy was even challenged by the RAF’s legal department and led to the resignation of an officer, Group Captain Lizzy Nicholl, who refused to implement it.

The head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston eventually apologised for the practice. He is due to step down from the service this month. In an email, dated

January 19, 2021, Squadron Leader Harwin shared his views with colleagues at the RAF’s Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre.

At the time he was under pressure from Sir Mike to fast-track female and Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) applicants. He wrote: ‘I noted that the boards have recently been predominantly white male heavy. If we don’t have enough females and BAME to board then we need to make a decision to pause boarding.

‘I don’t really need to see loads of useless white male pilots. Let’s get as focused as possible. I am more than happy to reduce boarding if needed to have a balanced BAME/ female/male board.’

As worthy as such an aspiration might have been, there were insufficient female and BAME pilots to produce a ‘balanced’ make-up of candidates on training courses.

This was acknowledged in a recent interview by Sir Mike. He said the ‘aspirational goals’ which filtered down from his office were ‘almost impossible to meet’. Sir Mike’s tenure has been marred by accusations of prejudice against white males, a sexual abuse scandal in the Red Arrows and shortages of frontline pilots.

Last week the Mail revealed how senior officers opted to house a child rapist on a service families’ estate even after he admitted a series of sickening crimes. Terrified parents expected the serviceman, Glenn Poyner, to be dismissed from the RAF on the day he pleaded guilty.

The RAF has set a goal of 40 per cent of its personnel being female and 20 per cent being from ethnic minorities by 2030.

While this may prove possible to achieve among ground crew and support staff, the overwhelming majority of pilots and trainee pilots are white males.

The RAF is understood to require 1,500 pilots. At the end of last year only 30 were women and around ten were from BAME communities.

Last night, a spokesman said: ‘The RAF will not shy away from the challenges we face building a service that attracts and recruits talent from every part of the UK workforce.’ They added: ‘There was no compromise of entry standards and no impact on frontline or operational effectiveness.’

‘Diversity goals impossible to meet’