The mythical Royal Air Force (RAF). great Britain will pay financial compensation to at least 31 people whose training was deliberately delayed to comply with internal regulations in the interest of greater diversity in the workforce. According to the slogan, for the time being the position is kept for the so-called BAME [un acrónico en inglés que significa negros, asiáticos y de minorías étnicas]. A e-mail leak highlighting how high command asked his subordinates to stop hiring for “useless white male pilots” until more female candidates and people from ethnic minorities can be found, the Daily Telegraph newspaper revealed.

In January 2021, Commander Andrew Harwin wrote to colleagues about the difficulties in the recruiting process: “I noticed that the board is made up mostly of white people. If we don’t have enough EXTRAORDINARY and women to recruit, we had to make the decision to stop recruiting and look for more BAME and RAF women.” In his email, which is now out, he said: “I don’t need to see a bunch of useless white male pilots, let’s focus as much as possible, I’m happy to reduce the draft if necessary to have a balanced BAME/female/male board.”

The 31 male pilots who were hit by the action will now receive £5,000 in compensation for being discriminated against, according to Sky News. This fact contradicts the version given by the then RAF leadership when he stated that the campaign to increase diversity did not discriminate against white male candidates.

The Times newspaper revealed that the group’s captain, Elizabeth Nicoll, he received instructions – which he considered illegal – to give preference to women and ethnic minority candidates and that he was resigning because he disagreed with this policy. Appearing before lawmakers this year, Royal Air Force chief Sir Mike Wigston said he regretted leaving but insisted no one was discriminated against during his tenure.

In a hearing before the Defense Committee, deputy Tobias Elwood explained what happened with these words:”The aim was to prioritize ethnic minorities and women over better qualified white pilots to raise the diversity profile of the RAF, although this could affect the operational performance of the RAF”.

In total, internal investigations have identified 160 cases of positive discrimination although it has only recently been revealed that 31 people have been compensated.

Chief of Air Staff Mike Wigston, countered in a statement that “the RAF hiring process has never selected ethnic minority and female pilots over better qualified white pilots.” He also recalled that “over 80% of our recruits during that period were white.” According to him, “an error – which we have corrected and for which we apologize – accelerated the recruitment of approximately 150 women and ethnic minorities, who have passed all the selection standards, to the previous initial training course”.

This is not the first time the RAF has been shaken by gender politics controversy. Last year it emerged that of the 30 women on the Royal Air Force staff, none could fly the fifth-generation F-35 because the helmets designed for boarding these aircraft were too heavy (2.3 kilograms). Under standards set within the British Air Force, a pilot – whether male or female – must weigh at least 150 pounds to fly the F-35. “That’s the minimum weight limit for the F-35, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a man, a woman or whoever, that’s what it takes,” the RAF chief said in a recent parliamentary appearance.