A female recruitment officer who was a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force (RAF) has resigned over the force’s policy on ethnic minority and female targets.
According to Sky News, the unnamed officer was frustrated that white male candidates were being openly rejected in favour of candidates from ethnic backgrounds or women.
Rather than settling for the best candidates, the RAF has set hard targets to have 20% of its recruitment as ethnic minorities and 40% as female by 2030.
The targets are partly a result of comments made by the Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, who described the under-representation of ethnic minorities and women as woeful.
Reports suggest that recruitment for white males was effectively paused.
The Royal Air Force issued a statement saying that recruitment was not paused but rather saying it was doing everything it could to recruit under-represented groups.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) refused to be drawn on the resignation mand recruitment targets but said the armed forces should reflect the society it serves.