Our Armed Forces are too bogged down in the culture wars to focus on a real one

Jul 7, 2023 by Jill

by Sarah Ingham, Conservative Home:

It’s action stations for militaries across Europe. War in Ukraine, a possible coup in Russia, speculation that the French Army was on standby to deal with the recent unrest, an imminent NATO summit…

Here in Britain, meanwhile, the Armed Forces are bogged down in a quota quagmire.

The Royal Air Force, guilty of discrimination; a reservist colonel forced into resignation allegedly for his views on transgenderism; a woman soldier seeking £2million in compensation for injuries.

Damaging headlines are being generated faster than a Typhoon FGR4. The Armed Forces are being defeated by the civilian obsession with Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

Last week Sir Richard Knighton, the new Air Chief Marshal, had to apologise unreservedly for unlawful discrimination after an inquiry found that women and ethnic minorities were being prioritised in training courses as part of a diversity drive instigated by his predecessor. Knighton acknowledged the controversy has affected Air Force morale.

More reputational harm for the RAF can be expected when it reaches a legal settlement with the former Group Captain Elizabeth Nicholl, who resigned last year after protesting that the recruitment policy was unlawful. The spectre of a recruitment-linked email describing white male pilots as “useless” continues to haunt the Force.

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