Documents show ‘beyond doubt’ former head of RAF ‘lied’ over recruitment scandal, MP claims
A top Conservative politician has claimed internal documents prove “beyond doubt” the former head of the Royal Air Force “lied” to the then defence secretary over a recruitment scandal involving the discrimination of white men.
Alicia Kearns also accused the RAF and the Ministry of Defence of failing to compensate the former head of recruitment, Group Captain Lizzy Nicholl, who resigned in August 2022 in protest at what she correctly deemed to be an unlawful order to favour female and ethnic minority applicants over white men.
Sky News first broke the news of the resignation.
Ms Kearns, who is Group Captain Nicholl’s local MP, made the allegations during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
Sir Keir Starmer said his government would “look into” the case and said a minister would meet with Ms Kearns.
The actions of the former head of RAF recruitment, who lost her career after refusing to follow the controversial order by her chain of command to prioritise women and ethnic minorities, prompted a major inquiry that concluded the RAF did unlawfully discriminate against white men in a recruitment drive aimed at boosting diversity.
“Group Captain Lizzy Nicholl had an exemplary career with the RAF until she was forced to resign for refusing to implement illegal recruitment orders,” Ms Kearns told parliament.
“Despite inquiry after inquiry vindicating Lizzy on every account, the RAF and MoD have failed to offer her far compensation and those responsible have walked away.
“I have documents proving beyond doubt that the former chief of the air staff lied to the then defence secretary about her case.”
The documents the MP referred to are understood to comprise the result of an initial review of RAF recruiting policy and practice, dated 5 September 2022, and the conclusion of an RAF board meeting two days later, attended by senior officials including, Air Chief Marshall Sir Mike Wigston, the then head of the RAF, and Ben Wallace, then defence secretary.
Sir Mike Wigston was a champion of improving diversity
Both documents have been seen by Sky News.
A summary of the conclusion of the initial report into RAF recruiting policy and practice stated: “The recruitment policies of the RAF over the past two years generate a very high risk of successful legal challenge.
“The policies viewed individually and collectively, albeit framed with the laudable aim of increasing diversity, are highly likely to be regarded as going beyond lawful ‘positive action’ and constituting unlawful ‘positive discrimination’.”
The second document set out the conclusions of the Air Force Main Board meeting at the Ministry of Defence on 7 September, which included a discussion of the recruitment scandal.
It said: “CAS (Chief of Air Staff) had asked the Chief of Defence People (CDP) to conduct a swift review of the RAF’s recruiting practices; the review concluded that no evidence of actual discrimination had been found, however direction had been issued, which if acted upon would have left the RAF exposed to a high risk of successful legal challenge.”
Asked about the claims by Ms Kearns that Air Chief Marshal Wigston had lied about the case, an RAF source said: “I do not believe he would lie to a politician or to anyone. It was all based on the best available information – which changed.”
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In her damning public intervention, Ms Kearns also revealed that other internal inquiries have similarly vindicated Group Captain Nicholl but she said that her constituent has yet to be fairly compensated, while those in charge at the time “have walked away”.
She did not identify anyone by name, but Air Chief Marshal Wigston was chief of the air staff at the time and a champion of improving diversity – something that the government also supported.
Air Vice-Marshal Maria Byford was head of personnel, while Air Commodore Jo Lincoln was another senior personnel officer.
In addition, Ms Kearns claimed that in the run-up to this summer’s election, officials used a period known as purdah – where there is less ministerial oversight because everyone is campaigning – to offer Group Captain “a derisory £2,000”.
In a challenge to Sir Keir, Ms Kearns said: “The prime minister says he believes in righting wrongs, so will he meet with Lizzy and help ensure that those responsible do not just walk away and Lizzy gets the justice she so very much deserves?”
Sky News has approached the Ministry of Defence and the RAF for comment.
An international manhunt is under way for the husband of a murdered woman, whose body was found in the boot of a car.
The body of Harshita Brella was found in east London on Thursday, tens of miles away from her home in Corby.
On Sunday, Northamptonshire Police said they were looking for Pankaj Lamba – who they believe has left the country.
Sky News understands she had been under the protection of a court order designed for victims of domestic abuse.
“Our inquiries lead us to suspect that Harshita was murdered in Northamptonshire earlier this month by her husband Pankaj Lamba,” said chief inspector Paul Cash.
“We suspect Lamba transported Harshita’s body from Northamptonshire to Ilford by car.”
“Fast track” enquires were made after the force was contacted on Wednesday by someone concerned about Ms Brella’s welfare. After she failed to answer the door at her home in Skegness Walk, Corby, a missing person investigation was launched.
Her body was found inside the boot of a vehicle in Brisbane Road in the Ilford in the early hours of Thursday morning.
A post mortem – conducted at Leicester Royal Infirmary on Friday – established she had been murdered.
Harshita Brella, 24, from Corby. Her body was found in a car in east London. Pic: Northamptonshire Police
More than 60 detectives are working on the case, with lines of enquiry including going house to house and property searches, as well as looking at CCTV and ANPR.
“We are of course continuing to appeal for any information that will help us piece together exactly what happened as we work to get justice for Harshita,” said chief inspector Cash.
“I urge anyone listening to or reading this statement, that if you saw anything suspicious in the past week or have any information, no matter how small, please contact us. We would always rather receive well-meaning information that turns out to be nothing as opposed to not receiving it all.”
Pankaj Lamba. Pic: Northamptonshire Police
Force referred to police watchdog
On Saturday, Northamptonshire Police said it had made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct due to previous contact between the force and the victim.
Northamptonshire Police previously said officers had been conducting investigations at three locations: Skegness Walk and Sturton Walk in Corby and Brisbane Road, Ilford, where Ms Brella’s body was found.
East Midlands Special Operations Major Crime Unit (EMSOU) and Northamptonshire Police said they were working “around the clock to establish the circumstances behind her death, including the exact location and timeframe in which it took place”.
State-of-the-art technology has been used to create a voice for King Richard III – giving him a Yorkshire accent.
A digital avatar of the medieval king’s head went on display in front of excited history fans at York Theatre Royal.
Richard III was king of England from 1483 until his death at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, at the age of 32.
His remains were found in a car park in Leicester in 2012 by historian Philippa Langley.
Speaking about the recreation, she said: “We’ve got leading experts in their fields who have been working on this for 10 years and so everything has been meticulously researched, meticulously evidenced, so you are seeing the most accurate portrayal of Richard III”.
A team based at Face Lab at Liverpool John Moores University created the avatar based on the reconstruction of Richard III’s head with the help of a craniofacial expert.
His voice has been created by Professor David Crystal, a leading linguist in 15th-century pronunciation. He admitted that it’s impossible to know exactly how he spoke, but this is as close as they will get.
The king was born in Northampton but spent a lot of his life in Yorkshire. His parents were also from the north of England.
Vocal coach Yvonne Morley-Chisholm spent a decade researching how the monarch would have sounded. She worked with the actor Thomas Dennis who was chosen as his body and face were such a a good physical match.
Speaking to Sky News, she said people will be shocked at how different he sounded compared with traditional portrayals of the king on stage and screen.
The coach and actor also examined the king’s letters and diary so that “as you pronounced a word that’s how you would write it”.
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The voice shows the change in pronunciation over the centuries – from regional variations to the Queen’s English.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
History fans at the unveiling were delighted with the accent, with one telling Sky News: “Northerners are known to be happy, positive, all those lovely qualities.”
Born in Northampton but a northerner through and through, technology has brought the king’s speech back to life
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