RAF boss says he is ready to test ‘the limit of the law’ to improve diversity in the force, leaked transcript reveals

Published

2 years ago

April 6, 2023

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The head of the Royal Air Force signalled he was ready to “bend” his service out of shape and test “the limit of the law” to improve diversity, according to an informed source and the leaked transcript of an internal meeting.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston has always maintained that efforts under his leadership to increase the ratio of ethnic minority and female recruits had no impact on the RAF’s operational effectiveness and that standards were never compromised.

But a second source – a serving RAF airman – claimed: “Us ‘on the shop floor’ so to speak are struggling. We haven’t got enough people to do the jobs and are desperate to have new recruits, new people – constantly…

“It appears they put political correctness and their own arbitrary target of increasing ethnic minorities and women recruitment ahead of actually getting people through the training pipeline to us at the coal face.”

Sky News revealed last year that the head of RAF recruitment resigned in protest at what was alleged to be an “illegal order” effectively to pause the placing of white male recruits onto training courses in favour of women and ethnic minorities.

The order was never implemented but only because Group Captain Elizabeth Nicholl refused to obey it and quit.

Her resignation as head of recruitment and selection prompted an official inquiry, but its results have yet to be made public.

Questions have also been raised about how the RAF just over a year earlier fast-tracked dozens of women and ethnic minority recruits onto training courses ahead of their white male counterparts.

Appearing before MPs in February, Air Chief Marshal Wigston admitted to a general failing by his organisation after what he described as his “aspirational goal” to boost diversity “trickled down” to become an “unattainable” target for individual recruitment officers.

Now, new insight can be revealed into the internal dialogue on diversity that was taking place within the RAF during his tenure.

The informed source, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed the RAF’s top personnel officer, Air Vice-Marshal (AVM) Maria Byford, shared a direction she had received from Air Chief Marshal Wigston about the need to prioritise ethnic minorities and women over white men when it comes to recruitment. This allegedly happened a couple of months before the resignation of the head of recruitment.

“In June 2022, Chief of Air Personnel AVM Byford sent correspondence to her staff stating CAS (Chief of the Air Staff) was prepared to bend the operational inflow requirement for the RAF out of shape for the next three years to meet diversity levels of ambition,” the source said.

Sky News understands this claim is part of the evidence gathered by the non-statutory inquiry into what prompted the head of recruitment to resign.

The source said the desire to bend the RAF out of shape appeared to contrast with the air chief’s subsequent assurance to parliament’s defence select committee that “there was no compromise of entry standards.

There was no impact on the standard of recruits from any background. There was no impact on the frontline or on operational effectiveness”.

Separately, Sky News has seen the transcript of a virtual meeting the air chief held with members of the RAF’s black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) network via Zoom on 18 June 2020.

During the session, he made clear his ambition to improve diversity within recruitment as well as within a system of allocating honours and awards to aviators in recognition of service.

Air Chief Marshal Wigston is quoted as saying: “All white, all male lists of anything are unacceptable”, according to the document.

It carried a disclaimer that this was not a verbatim transcript, noting that it drew from notes taken by staff who were listening “and captures the key aspects from the question-and-answer session”.

At one point, the air chief and the RAF’s then senior non-commissioned officer, Warrant Officer Jake Alpert, who also participated, were asked whether the service planned to use positive action to ensure there is fairer representation of ethnic minorities.

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Positive action is a legal tool to help employers increase diversity by prioritising a minority candidate over, for example, their white, male counterpart if they are equally qualified.

The two RAF leaders said they believed in positive action.

Air Chief Marshal Wigston was quoted as saying he was impatient for speedy improvements in the RAF’s ethnic minority figures, noting that the ratio stood at just 6% of all recruits in 2019 and he wanted it to reach 20% by 2030.

He said if changes around recruitment and other areas were not happening fast enough towards the end of his time as chief “then I’m going to take it as far as I can in the law – right up to the point of quotas and push positive action to the limit of the law…

“We are already taking positive action and I don’t accept honours and awards that aren’t representative of our population”.

Air Chief Marshal Wigston is due to retire from the RAF in June after almost four years in the post.

Sky News asked Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, about the recruitment controversy in an interview last Thursday.

He said he would seek to make the findings of the inquiry public once they were finalised and said that anyone found to have been at fault would be held to account.

“Ultimately what people need to understand is that no one was prevented from joining the RAF as a result of these conditions,” Mr Wallace said.

“Fundamentally what the air force was trying to do was to make sure there were more women being recruited into the air force. There was no lowering of the standards.

“There was no gerrymandering or fixing but ultimately what this inquiry has been looking at is the process of the leadership and its relationship between those in charge at the time and whether they were listened to when they felt there was something going awry.”

An RAF spokesperson said: “The RAF is constantly reviewing its recruiting practices in order to improve the diversity of its workforce.

“During the period in question our selection standards did not drop and there was no impact on the operational effectiveness of the RAF, however, in hindsight, we accept that despite the best of intentions, that some mistakes were made.

“The RAF is now confident that our approach is correct.”

The RAF also pushed back on the suggestion from the anonymous serving RAF airman about a shortage of recruits, saying figures for the past year to March – which have yet to be released – will show the service hit well over 90% of its recruitment targets.

This outperformed the rest of the armed forces.

UK

Police separate anti-immigration and anti-racism protesters across the country

Published

12 hours ago

August 23, 2025

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Police separate anti-immigration and anti-racism protesters across the country

Protesters have gathered across the country as groups demonstrated against asylum seeker housing and were met by anti-racism campaigners.

Demonstrations under the Abolish Asylum System slogan were held in England, Scotland and Wales, including in Bristol, Exeter, Tamworth, Cannock, Aberdeen, Mold, Perth, Nuneaton, Liverpool, Wakefield, Newcastle, Horley and Canary Wharf.

Counter-protests were also organised by campaign group Stand Up to Racism.

In Bristol, mounted police separated the two groups in the Castle Park, with officers scuffling with protesters.

Police kept around 200 anti-immigration protesters draped in English flags away from roughly 50 Stand Up to Racism protesters in Horley, Surrey.

One man, wearing a West Ham United football shirt, was held by police as he yelled: “You’re not welcome here, you’re not welcome here, you’re not welcome here” at anti-racism protesters.

Anti-immigration protesters also chanted: “Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy Robinson” in support of the far-right activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

The anti-racism protesters chanted “say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here” and held signs calling for solidarity and to “stop deportations”.

The Stand Up to Racism protesters were shepherded into a smaller area as they continued to chant: “No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here”, which was met with “No they’re f****** not” from the other side of the street.

In Perth, protesters gathered outside the Radisson Hotel.

The anti-migration protesters held up signs with slogans such as “Perth is full – empty the hotels” and “get them out”.

Stand Up to Racism Scotland said it had achieved “victory” in Perth, with more than 200 gathering to oppose the Abolish Asylum System demonstration.

In Liverpool, a dispersal order was issued to try and contain the protests.

Saturday’s events come amid continued tension around the use of the hotels for asylum seekers.

Regular protests had been held outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, which started after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl on 10 July.

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was charged with trying to kiss a teenage girl and denies the allegations. He is due to stand trial later this month.

In the wake of those protests, Epping Forest District Council sought and won an interim High Court injunction to stop migrants from being accommodated there – a decision which the government is seeking permission to appeal.

UK

Reform UK’s new immigration plans would’ve been extreme just a few years ago

Published

13 hours ago

August 23, 2025

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Reform UK's new immigration plans would've been extreme just a few years ago

Mass deportations. Prison camps. Quitting the Refugee Convention and the UN Convention on Torture.

A shrug of the shoulders at the idea of the UK sending asylum seekers back to places like Afghanistan or Eritrea, where they could be tortured or executed.

“I’m really sorry, but we can’t be responsible for everything that happens in the whole of the world,” says Nigel Farage.

“Who is our priority?”

The Reform UK leader has been setting out his party’s new plans to address illegal migration in an interview with The Times newspaper – a set of policies, and a use of language, which would surely have been seen as extreme just a few years ago.

Only last autumn the Reform leader repeatedly shied away from the concept of “mass deportations”, describing the idea as “a political impossibility”.

But now he’s embraced Trump-style immigration rhetoric.

It’s not surprising that Reform want to capitalise on the outpouring of public anger over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers. The policy was started by the previous Conservative government, in response to housing shortages – and Labour has failed to make significant progress on its promise to stop it.

But all the major parties have shifted firmly to the right on this issue.

There’s been very little political criticism of the aggressiveness of Farage’s policy suggestions, and the premise that the UK should no longer offer sanctuary to anyone who arrives here illegally.

The Tory response has been to complain that he’s just copying the ideas they didn’t quite get round to implementing before calling the general election.

“Four months late, this big reveal is just recycling many ideas the Conservatives have already announced,” said Chris Philp MP, the shadow home secretary.

“Labour’s border crisis does urgently need to be fixed with tough and radical measures, but only the Conservatives have done – and will continue to do – the detailed work to deliver a credible plan that will actually work in practice.”

Certainly, the ambition to arrest and deport everyone who arrives in a small boat – regardless of whether or not they have legitimate grounds for asylum – has clear echoes of the Tories’ Rwanda policy.

Despite spending £700m on the controversial idea, only four volunteers were ever sent to Kigali before it was cancelled by Sir Keir Starmer, who branded it a gimmick.

Labour have suggested they’ve diverted Home Office resources that were freed up by that decision into processing asylum claims more quickly and increasing deportations.

They’re hoping tougher action against the criminal gangs and the new “one in one out” deal with France will help deter the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats in the first place, currently at record levels.

But rather than offering any defence of the principle of offering asylum to genuine refugees – Labour’s Angela Eagle MP, the border security minister, has also focused on the feasibility of Farage’s policies.

“Nigel Farage is simply plucking numbers out of the air, another pie in the sky policy from a party that will say anything for a headline,” she said.

“We are getting a grip of the broken asylum system. Making sure those with no right to be here are removed or deported.”

Even the Liberal Democrats have taken a similar approach.

“This plan sums up Nigel Farage perfectly, as like him it doesn’t offer any real solutions,” they said.

“Whilst Farage continues to stoke division, we Liberal Democrats are more interested in delivering for our local communities.”

It’s been left to the Refugee Council to defend the principle of asylum.

“After the horrors of the Second World War, Britain and its allies committed to protecting those fleeing persecution,” said CEO Enver Solomon.

“The Refugee Convention was our collective vow of ‘never again’ – a legal framework ensuring that people who come to our country seeking safety get a fair chance to apply for asylum.

“That commitment remains vital today. Whether escaping conflict in Sudan or repression under regimes like the Taliban, people still need protection.

“Most find refuge in neighbouring countries. But some will seek sanctuary in Europe, including Britain.

“We can meet this challenge by upholding a fair, managed system that determines who qualifies for protection and who does not.”

But with Reform leading in the polls, and protests outside hotels across the country – politicians of all stripes are under pressure to respond to public frustration over the issue.

A recent YouGov poll found half of voters now believe immigration over the last ten years has been mostly bad for the country – double the figure just three years ago.

While the government has made some progress in reducing the cost of asylum hotels – down from £8.3m a day in 2023/4 to £5.77m a day in 2024/5 – the overall numbers accommodated in this way have gone up by 8% since Labour took charge, thanks to the surge in new claims.

Sir Keir has previously said he won’t make a promise he can’t keep.

But current efforts to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029 are clearly not working.

That’s a credibility gap Farage is more than ready to exploit.

UK

Three people in a life-threatening condition after ‘arson attack’ at restaurant

Published

16 hours ago

August 23, 2025

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Three people in a life-threatening condition after 'arson attack' at restaurant

Three people are in a life-threatening condition after a suspected arson attack at a restaurant in Ilford, say police.

Five people – three women and two men – were injured in the fire, which broke out shortly after 9pm on Friday at Indian Aroma on Woodford Avenue, Gants Hill.

No arrests have been made.

Hospital porter Edward Thawe, 43, went to help with his son after hearing screams from his nearby home.

He described the scene as “horrible” and “more than scary and the sort of thing that you don’t want to look at twice”.

He said: “I heard screaming and people saying they had called the police.”

He said he saw a woman and a severely burned man who may have been customers.

He said the man’s “whole body was burnt”, including his shirt, but he was still wearing his trousers.

After being treated at the scene by paramedics from the London Ambulance Service, the victims were taken to hospital.

Nine others were able to get out beforehand, London Fire Brigade (LFB) said in a statement.

“The brigade’s control officers received seven calls about the fire and mobilised crews from Ilford, Hainault, Leytonstone and Woodford fire stations to the scene. The fire was extinguished by 10.32pm,” said an LFB spokesperson.

“We understand this incident will cause concern within the community. My team of specialist detectives are working at speed to piece the incident together,” said Detective Chief Inspector Mark Rogers, of the Met’s Central Specialist Crime North unit.

“Locals can expect to see a large police presence in the area. If you have any concerns, please speak to those officers on the ground.”

The London Ambulance Service told Sky News: “We sent resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, an advanced paramedic, an incident response officer and paramedics from our hazardous area response team.

“We treated five people for burns and smoke inhalation. We took two patients to a major trauma centre and three others to local hospitals.”

Health secretary Wes Streeting, who is the MP for Ilford North, posted on X to thank the emergency services for their response to the fire.

He also asked his constituents to “please avoid the area for now”.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Met via 101, quoting 7559/22AUG. If you wish to remain anonymous, please speak with Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.