RAF chief admits force made mistakes in diversity recruitment drive

The RAF made mistakes in its diversity recruitment drive that ‘discriminated against white men in favour of women and ethnic minorities’, admits chief

• Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston said diversity improvements were ‘flat-lining’ 
• Of the 1,500 pilots, just 40 were women and 20 were from ethnic minorities 

An outgoing RAF chief has admitted the air force made mistakes in its diversity recruitment drive.

Of the 1,500 pilots in the force at the end of last year, just 40 were women and 10 were from ethnic minorities. 

But aims to improve these figures by 2030 ended up ‘flat-lining’, with staff finding the goals ‘almost impossible to meet’.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, who is set to retire next month, also said that when he entered the role four years ago, he had hoped to tackle ‘bullying, harassment and discrimination’ going on within the force.

It comes after the Daily Mail read leaked documents where senior officers suggested RAF training places should be filled by ‘any remaining women and EMs [Ethnic Minorities] that are ready’ even if the candidates are not ‘first past the post’.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston (pictured), who is set to retire next month, also said that when he entered the role four years ago, he had hoped to tackle ‘bullying, harassment and discrimination’ going on within the force

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak walks with Chief of the Air Staff Sir Mike Wigston (left) and Station Commander of RAF Coningsby, Group Captain Billy Cooper (right) at number 11 (fighter) Squadron during a visit to RAF Coningsby

In an interview with The Telegraph, Sir Mike said: ‘We were doing all we could to tackle this intractable problem, which is the lack of diversity in our service.’ 

But the Chief of the Air Staff revealed that the failing recruitment drive resulted in the resignation of a senior official, which he described as a ‘regrettable outcome’.

His goals had been for 40 per cent of the force’s personnel to be women and 20 per cent to be to from ethnic minorities by the end of the decade.

But Sir Mike, 55, said one of the mistakes made was that those ‘aspirational goals filtered down into people’s personal objectives in-year, which they found almost impossible to meet’.

‘That put intolerable pressure on them and I’ve apologised to the recruiting and selection organisation,’ he added. 

READ MORE: RAF houses child rapist on family base: Fury as paedophile is given property near primary school because red tape extraordinarily stops top brass kicking him out instantly 

On entering the job as head of the service four years ago, Sir Mike sought out to tackle what he saw as ‘inappropriate [and] unacceptable behaviours’.

He said he felt ‘there was just too much bullying, harassment and discrimination going on [and] we weren’t doing a good enough job of dealing with them and dealing with the aftermath both for the victims and for justice being done and being seen to be done’.

But the RAF faced claims it broke employment law when it attempted to favour female and ethnic minority candidates.

The admission of ‘mistakes’ by Sir Mike comes after the Red Arrows, the Royal Air Force’s elite aerobatics team, was last year revealed to have a ‘toxic’ culture after several of the squadron quit or were suspended.

More than 40 crew members, including vulnerable women, told commanders they suffered sexual assaults, sexual harassment and physical attacks by Red Arrows pilots who considered themselves ‘untouchable’ due to their status. 

Sir Mike told The Telegraph he was ‘beyond infuriated’ when the information came to him.

The admission of ‘mistakes’ by Sir Mike comes after the Red Arrows, the Royal Air Force’s elite aerobatics team, was last year revealed to have a ‘toxic’ culture after several of the squadron quit or were suspended

‘People have been harmed,’ he said, adding that ‘those behaviours have no place in our air force in 2023’.

The shock findings of an RAF Non-Statutory Inquiry prompted top brass finally to respond to abuse claims which had been raised as long ago as 2019.

And in exclusive interviews with the Daily Mail, the victims called for the jets to be disbanded. 

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