Diversity initiatives meant to boost the number of women and ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force resulted in unlawful discrimination, according to a recent inquiry.

Some 161 female and minority candidates were accelerated into training positions ahead of other candidates in an attempt to achieve diversity goals during an RAF recruitment drive in 2020 and 2021. The Ministry of Defence launched an official inquiry into this situation when Group Captain Lizzy Nicholl, the RAF’s head of recruitment, resigned after objecting that the expedited promotion of women and ethnic minorities violated the United Kingdom’s Equality Act and unfairly discriminated against white men.

The Equality Act, passed by British Parliament in 2010, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, race, and other protected characteristics in employment, education, housing, business, public services, and private associations.

The Ministry of Defence’s investigation revealed that Nicholl faced excessive and unreasonable pressure to meet diversity goals and that the pressure to meet these targets resulted in unlawful discrimination. The goals, set by former Chief of the Air Staff Mike Wigston, aimed to increase the representation of women and ethnic minorities in the RAF.

The inquiry also revealed that in addition to the recruits admitted for diversity reasons, at least thirty-one men were intentionally held back from advancing within the RAF due to their sex and race, which blocked them from obtaining £5,000 signing bonuses.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace condemned the mistreatment of the thirty-one passed-over individuals during a recent press briefing.

“While the entire situation is regrettable for the RAF, they did not lower the standards,” he said. “Instead, they discriminated against applicants who were above the standard, ensuring that our military readiness was not compromised. Nonetheless, the treatment of these applicants was unacceptable and unsatisfactory.”

The RAF had initially argued that their policies constituted affirmative action, called “positive action” in the United Kingdom, and that these policies were lawful.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton has now acknowledged that some men faced discrimination and issued an apology.

“The belief at that time, based on the understanding of the recruiting process and interpretation of the legal advice, was that this practice demonstrated acceptable, positive action. We now know that it did not, and I apologise unreservedly to all those affected. We accept that some men were discriminated against,” he said. “We have identified those people and are retrospectively offering to award them any financial payment they missed out on.”

The RAF also admitted that its goal of having 40% of the force composed of women and 20% from ethnic minority backgrounds by 2030 is unrealistic. The Ministry of Defence acknowledged that Nicholl’s departure could have been avoided and that her resignation letter contained fair criticisms which were later validated by the inquiry.

The inquiry report provided twelve recommendations to improve fairness within the RAF which are currently being implemented. These include improving the whistleblowing policy and offering clearer guidance on distinguishing between illegal discrimination and lawful affirmative action.