Women ‘highly likely’ suffered unlawful harassment in Red Arrows, inquiry finds
Women would “highly likely” suffer unlawful harassment in the Red Arrows because of their sex, raising concerns the squadron was not a “safe environment” for them, an inquiry has found.
Predatory and other forms of unacceptable behaviour by male members of the team was widespread and “normalised”, with women viewed as the “property” of an individual or the squadron, according to the devastating findings that were published on Wednesday.
Unacceptable behaviour was so prevalent that servicewomen would club together in “shark watch” mode on social events to try to protect each other from drunken, unwanted advances.
There was also a “bystander culture” on the squadron – all the way up the chain of command – meaning bad behaviour went “unchecked”, the report said.
File pic
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the head of the Royal Air Force, said he was “appalled” at what had been uncovered by the non-statutory inquiry into unacceptable behaviour on the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, better known as the Red Arrows.
He offered his “unreserved apologies” to those who suffered during a period that spanned from 2017 until 2021, in particular three women who he said had raised the alarm to the previous chief of the air staff two years ago.
Two Red Arrows pilots have already been sacked because of their actions.
A further nine personnel have faced varying forms of administrative action, including over what was described as “command, leadership and management” failings, the RAF revealed.
Separate to the inquiry, it emerged a person “associated with the Red Arrows” was convicted of battery in a court martial over smacking the bottom of a female colleague.
That incident happened in 2020, according to an RAF spokesperson.
Some of the key findings
Offering details about the biggest scandal to engulf the Red Arrows in its more than 60-year history, the inquiry found:
• Two incidents of “exposure of genitals”, but noted a “lack of offence… which suggests exposure of genitals and nakedness is normalised in a military environment”
• Several extramarital relationships, between a senior married individual and someone more junior, including those that impacted operational effectiveness and safety
• An alcohol-focused culture, with unacceptable behaviour often linked to booze and alcohol consumption also raising flight safety concerns
• Incidents of bullying
Head of RAF – ‘I am sorry’
Presenting the findings in a 76-page report, Air Chief Marshal Knighton said: “I am sorry and offer my unreserved apologies to any individuals that were subjected to unacceptable behaviours during their association with the Red Arrows, particularly the three women who felt they had no option but to raise their complaints directly with my predecessor.”
Much of the details collected in the inquiry, which heard evidence from more than 40 witnesses, were redacted.
However, the air chief, who had read the unredacted version, condemned the behaviours that were described, without giving details to protect the identities of the complainants.
He said: “I was appalled when I read the investigations’ findings. The behaviour of a minority of individuals has harmed the squadron’s reputation and that of the Royal Air Force… I am intent on rebuilding public trust in one of our highest profile units.”
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the head of the Royal Air Force. Pic: gov.uk
Read more:
RAF sacks some personnel after claims of ‘unacceptable behaviours’
Red Arrows featured in conference on trust despite ‘toxic culture’ controversy
The Red Arrows squadron comprises around 110 personnel, including pilots and ground crew.
The crisis around what has been described as a “toxic culture” meant – given the sacking of two pilots – that the team has not been operating with the “Diamond Nine” formation of nine Hawk aircraft since 2022. It went down to seven jets, then rebounded to eight this season and is only set to return to nine in 2024.
Despite the damning findings, Air Chief Marshal Knighton said he had not considered disbanding the Red Arrows.
Inquiry recommendations
The inquiry recommended a number of moves, such as focus groups to help change the culture, which the head of the air force said had been accepted and in many places implemented already.
The lack of clarity over the sanctions and the fact that only two pilots were sacked will raise criticism from those impacted.
A second report, released simultaneously with the non-statutory inquiry, explored management and leadership failings by the chain of command in the Red Arrows and more senior levels within the RAF, though the names of those sanctioned were not released.
Setting out its findings, a review team that conducted the non-statutory inquiry, said it was “concerned that the Sqn [squadron] was not a safe environment for females and that it was highly likely that females would be subject to unlawful harassment because of their sex”.
Unwanted behaviour
The types of behaviours described included: Unwanted physical contact; unwanted text messages outside work hours or perceived to be of a sexual nature and unwanted comments about their appearance.
There was also “male sexual entitlement towards the females; being viewed as ‘property’ of either individuals or the Sqn”.
As to how the women on the squadron coped, the inquiry said they had “normalised” the behaviour and had even “got used to it”.
“Female SP [service personnel] naturally supported each other and reported modifying their behaviours to reduce the risk of being subject of UB [unacceptable behaviour] or ensuring that they would be believed if they needed to report an incident.”
The modifying behaviour was listed as: “Going to social situations as a group with ‘shark watch’ in operation within their cohort; limiting the amount of alcohol consumed in order to be able to respond effectively if they were subject to UB and to ensure their account would be believed and not dismissed due to consumption of alcohol; and modifying what they wear.”
Zoe Ball is leaving her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show after six years.
The 53-year-old, who recently lost her mother to cancer, will present her last show on Friday, 20 December.
Ball leaves Wogan House with her replacement, Scott Mills. Pic: PA
She said she was leaving to focus on family, but will remain part of the Radio 2 team and will give further details next year.
Announcing the news on her Tuesday show, she said: “After six years of fun times alongside you all on the breakfast show, I’ve decided it’s time to step away from the early alarm call and start a new chapter.
“You know I think the world of you all, listeners, and it truly has been such a privilege to share the mornings with you, to go through life’s little ups and downs, we got through the lockdown together, didn’t we?
“We’ve shared a hell of a lot, the good times, the tough times, there’s been a lot of laughter. And I am going to miss you cats.”
Scott Mills will replace Ball on the breakfast show following her departure next month.
“Zoe and I have been such good friends now for over 25 years and have spent much of that time as part of the same radio family here at Radio 2 and also on Radio 1,” he said.
“She’s done an incredible job on this show over the past six years, and I am beyond excited to be handed the baton.”
Hugging outside the BBC building on the day of the announcement, Ball said she was “really chuffed for my mate and really excited about it”.
Ball was the first female host of both the BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2 breakfast shows, starting at the Radio 1 breakfast show in 1998, and taking over her current Radio 2 role from Chris Evans in 2020 after he left the show.
She took a break from hosting her show over the summer, returning in September.
Ahead of her stint in radio, Ball – who is the daughter of children’s presenter Johnny Ball – co-hosted the BBC’s Saturday morning children’s magazine show Live & Kicking alongside Jamie Theakston for three years from 1996.
She has two children, Woody and Nelly, with her ex-husband, DJ and musician Norman Cook, known professionally as Fatboy Slim.
Ball said in her announcement her last show towards the end of December will be “just in time for Christmas with plenty of fun and shenanigans”.
“While I’m stepping away from the Breakfast Show, I’m not disappearing entirely – I’ll still be a part of the Radio 2 family, with more news in the New Year,” she added.
“I’m excited to embrace my next chapter, including being a mum in the mornings, and I can’t wait to tune in on the school run!”
Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, said: “Zoe has woken up the nation on Radio 2 with incredible warmth, wit and so much joy since January 2019, and I’d like to thank her for approaching each show with as much vim and vigour as if it were her first. I’m thrilled that she’ll remain an important part of the Radio 2 family.”
Mills, 51, got his first presenting role aged just 16 for a local station in Hampshire, and went on to present in Bristol and Manchester, before joining BBC Radio 1 in 1998.
He’s previously worked as a cover presenter on Radio 2, but this is his first permanent role on the station.
UK
More prisoners are being transferred to less secure jails to tackle overcrowding crisis, Sky News understands
The prison service is starting to recategorise the security risk of offenders to ease capacity pressures, Sky News understands.
It involves lowering or reconsidering the threshold of certain offenders to move them from the closed prison estate (category A to C) to the open estate (category D) because there are more free cell spaces there.
Examples of this could include discounting adjudications – formal hearings when a prisoner is accused of breaking the rules – for certain offenders, so they don’t act as official reasons not to transport them to a lower-security jail.
Prisoners are also categorised according to an Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) status. There are different levels – basic, standard and enhanced – based on how they keep to the rules or display a commitment to rehabilitation.
Usually ‘enhanced’ prisoners take part in meaningful activity – employment and training – making them eligible among other factors, to be transferred to the open estate.
Insiders suggest this system in England and Wales is being rejigged so that greater numbers of ‘standard’ prisoners can transfer, whereas before it would more typically be those with ‘enhanced’ status.
Open prisons have minimal security and allow eligible prisoners to spend time on day release away from the prison on license conditions to carry out work or education.
The aim is to help reintegrate them back into society once they leave. As offenders near the end of their sentence, they are housed in open prisons.
Many of those released as part of the early release scheme in October after serving 40% of their sentence were freed from open prisons.
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Overcrowding in UK prisons
They were the second tranche of offenders freed as part of this scheme, and had been sentenced to five years or more.
Despite early release measures, prisons are still battling a chronic overcrowding crisis. The male estate is almost full, operating at around 97% capacity.
Read more from Sky News:
Find out what it’s really like inside prison?
Prison recalls soar as justice system struggles
Campaigners demand IPP sentences are scrapped
Sky News understands there continue to be particular pinch points across the country.
Southwest England struggled over the weekend with three space-related ‘lockouts’ – which means prisoners are held in police suites or transferred to other jails because there is no space.
One inmate is believed to have been transported from Exeter to Cardiff.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The new government inherited a prison system on the point of collapse. We took the necessary action to stop our prisons from overflowing and to protect the public.
“This is not a new scheme. Only less-serious offenders who meet a strict criteria are eligible, and the Prison Service can exclude anyone who can’t be managed safely in a category D prison.”
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