Royal Air Force unlawfully discriminated against white male recruits in bid to boost diversity, inquiry finds

调查发现,英国皇家空军为了促进多样性,违法歧视白人男性新兵



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The Royal Air Force unlawfully discriminated against white men in a recruitment drive aimed at boosting diversity, an official inquiry has found.

一项官方调查发现,英国皇家空军在招募新兵时非法歧视白人男性,以促进多样性。

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the new head of the RAF, said he "apologised unreservedly" to all those affected, including the former head of recruitment who was forced to resign rather than implement an order she believed - correctly - to breach equality legislation.

英国皇家空军新任司令、空军上将理查德·奈特顿爵士表示,他“毫无保留地向所有受影响的人道歉”,包括前征兵负责人,她被迫辞职,而不肯执行她认为确实违反平等立法的命令。
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Despite the damning findings, the chief of the air staff said that none of the RAF's senior leadership, including his predecessor Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, on whose watch this happened, would face any kind of sanction.

尽管调查结果令人震惊,但空军参谋长表示,英国皇家空军的任何高级领导层,包括他的前任空军上将迈克·威斯顿爵士,都不会受到任何制裁。

Instead, he blamed the debacle on legal advice that incorrectly said a push in 2020 and 2021 to fast-track ethnic minority and female recruits into training slots was positive action - which is a legal way to improve diversity - when it was actually positive discrimination, which is unlawful.

相反,他将这次失败归咎于法律建议,这些建议错误地将2020年和2021年推动少数民族和女性新兵快速进入培训岗位的努力称为积极行动——这是提高多样性的合法方式——但实际上是积极的歧视,这是非法的。

"We accept that some men were discriminated against," Air Chief Marshal Knighton said.

“我们承认一些男性受到歧视的事实,”空军上将奈特顿说。

Thirty-one men have already been identified as having missed out on a potential £5,000 "golden handshake" to start cyber roles in the RAF.

31名男子已经被确认错过了在英国皇家空军担任网络人员的潜在的5000英镑的“黄金握手”。

As first revealed by Sky News, the RAF is compensating each of these individuals.

正如《天空新闻》最先披露的那样,英国皇家空军正在对这些人进行补偿。

Air Chief Marshal Knighton acknowledged that there could be more cases and said that the RAF would compensate anyone found to have suffered discrimination.

空军上将奈特顿承认可能会有更多的案例,并表示英国皇家空军将赔偿任何被发现遭受歧视的人。

Speaking to reporters in his first media briefing in his new post, he said: "I am sure you are going to say, who is responsible, who are you going to fire as a consequence of this?

他在上任后的第一次媒体吹风会上对记者说:“我相信你会问,谁应该对此负责,你会因此解雇谁?

"The report doesn't single out individuals or recommend disciplinary or administrative action. My focus as the chief is to make sure we learn the lessons from this and we absolutely do not repeat these mistakes."

“但报告没有单独针对个人,也没有建议采取纪律或行政措施。作为负责人,我的重点是确保我们从中吸取教训,绝不重蹈覆辙。”

Wallace concerned by 'significant error'

华莱士担心“重大错误”

Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, described what happened as a "significant error" and a "cause for regret" for the RAF.

英国国防大臣本·华莱士称,这是一个“重大错误”,是英国皇家空军“后悔的理由”。

But he insisted that entry standards were never lowered - as had been claimed by insiders and reported by Sky News.

但他坚持认为,入伍标准从未降低——正如内部人士和《天空新闻》所报道的那样。

Yet he said the treatment of Group Captain Lizzy Nicholl, the then head of recruitment who raised the alarm about the unlawful activity and ended up losing her career, needed to be "looked at considerably".

然而,他表示,需要“认真审视”当时的招聘主管莉兹·尼科尔上校的处理方式。尼科尔对这一违法行为发出了警告,最终丢掉了自己的职业生涯。

He said scrutiny was needed of "why she was ignored, why indeed she was put under that pressure. And I don't want to see anyone put under pressure to do something like what we've seen in the RAF".

他说,需要审查“为什么她被无视了,为什么她确实受到了那种压力。我不希望看到任何人迫于压力去做我们在英国皇家空军身上看到的事情。”

The admission marks a stunning U-turn by the RAF on a scandal first exposed last August by Sky News when it was revealed that Group Captain Nicholl had resigned after refusing to carry out an order to discriminate against white men.

这一承认标志着英国皇家空军对一桩丑闻的态度发生了惊人的180度大转弯。去年8月,《天空新闻》首次曝光了尼科尔上校因拒绝执行歧视白人男子的命令而辞职的丑闻。

She was put into this position after her chain of command, under Air Vice Marshal Maria Byford, who reported to Air Chief Marshal Wigston, insisted that the order was to be carried out despite Group Captain Nicholl saying she had received new legal advice that it was unlawful.

在她的指挥条线上的空军中将玛丽亚·拜福德向空军上将威斯顿报告,坚持要执行这一命令之后(尽管尼科尔上校说她收到了新的法律建议,认为这是违法的),她受到了如此对待。

Only last February, in evidence to parliament, Air Chief Marshal Wigston assured MPs that there was no unlawful discrimination against white men.

就在去年2月,空军上将威斯顿在向议会提交证据时向议员们保证,不存在针对白人男性的非法歧视。
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'Uncomfortable reading'

“令人不快的阅读”

A 72-page report - the result of a non-statutory inquiry ordered by Air Chief Marshal Wigston in the wake of the furore - found that the then head of recruitment had been right.

一份长达72页的报告——由空军上将威斯顿下令进行的一项非法定调查的结果——发现当时的征兵主管是正确的。

It also criticised senior leaders for not relying on reliable forecasts when setting ambitious targets to increase the ratio of women and ethnic minority recruits.

报告还批评高层领导人在制定提高女性和少数民族新兵比例的宏伟目标时,没有基于可靠的预测。

Air Chief Marshal Knighton admitted that the report made "pretty uncomfortable reading".

空军上将奈特顿承认,这份报告“读起来相当令人不快”。

The report sought to find out what happened in the lead up to Group Captain Nicholl's resignation.

该报告试图找出导致尼科尔上校辞职的原因。

It also looked into allegations by the officer that she was the victim of institutional bullying because she had been forced to chase impossible diversity targets.

该报告还调查了这名军官的指控,她称自己是机构欺凌的受害者,因为她被逼追求不可能实现的多元化目标。

The report cleared the RAF of the bullying allegations but concluded that Group Captain Nicholl had been right to call out the unlawful recruitment practices.

该报告澄清了英国皇家空军的欺凌指控,但得出的结论是,尼科尔上校指出招募行为违法是正确的。

Diversity goal led to impossible targets

多样性的目标导致了不可能实现的目标

The whole affair is frxd by an ambition set by Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston to significantly improve the RAF's diversity - a defining goal of his tenure.

整个事件的框架是空军上将迈克·威斯顿爵士设定的一个雄心,即大幅提高英国皇家空军的多样性——这是他任期内的一个明确目标。

But this was translated down the chain of command into impossible recruitment targets.

但这在指挥系统中被转变成了不可能实现的招募目标。

Sky News even revealed that white men seeking to join the Royal Air Force had been described as "useless white male pilots" in leaked emails that exposed the pressure placed on recruitment officers to improve diversity.

《天空新闻》甚至透露,在被泄露的电子邮件中,寻求加入皇家空军的白人男性被描述为“无用的白人男性飞行员”,这些邮件暴露了招募军官在提高多样性方面所面临的压力。

A number of sextion boards to place new recruits on courses - a crucial part of maintaining the fighting strength of the RAF - were also cancelled if they did not include women or ethnic minorities, according to the messages.

据消息称,如果不包括女性或少数民族成员,那么一些为新成员安排课程(这些课程是保持英国皇家空军战斗力的关键部分)的选拔委员会也将被取消。

The unlawful activity happened in that climate under a previous head of recruitment before Group Captain Nicholl took up her role in March 2021.

在尼科尔上校于2021年3月接任之前,违法招募行为是在前任负责人的领导下发生的。

In the recruitment year to March 2020 and the year to March 2021, a total of 161 ethnic minority and female recruits were "pulled forward" onto initial training ahead of white men.

在截至2020年3月的招聘年度和截至2021年3月的招聘年度,共有161名少数民族和女性新兵被“提前”到白人男性之前接受初步培训。
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"We found that concerns were raised at the time by R&S [recruitment and sextion] staff but that those who led the initiatives believed that they were 'pushing the boundaries' of positive action rather than acting unlawfully," the report said.

报告称:“我们发现,当时R&S(招募和选拔)工作人员提出了担忧,但那些领导这些举措的人认为,他们只是在‘突破积极行动的界限’,而不是在违法行动。”

Group Captain Nicholl, however, sought new legal advice in May and June 2022 that clearly said these activities were "contrary to the Equality Act 2010, which provided reasonable justification for the Former Group Captain R&S to state that acts of positive discrimination had taken place in RY20/21 [recruitment year 2020-21]".

然而,尼科尔上校在2022年5月和6月寻求新的法律建议,明确表示这些活动“违反了2010年平等法案,该法案为该名前招募和选拔上校声称在20/21年度(2020-21募兵年)发生了积极的歧视行为提供了合理的理由”。

Despite this advice, she was still under pressure to prioritise women and ethnic minorities ahead of white men.

尽管提出了这些建议,她仍然面临着优先考虑女性和少数民族而不是白人男性的压力。

The report described how this advice was "either not seen or understood" by the most senior echelons of the RAF - two-star officers and above.

报告描述了这一建议是如何被英国皇家空军的最高阶层——两星及以上将官——“无视或不被理解”的。

There was also resistance from the top to the challenge that Group Captain Nicholl made.

尼科尔上校的质疑也遭到了高层的抵制

The report said: "We found that the chain of command's reaction to the former Group Capt R&S was overly defensive and not properly considered whether she might have been justified in what she said regarding previous acts of positive discrimination or the legality of what she was asked to do; and that insufficient effort had been made to determine the facts."

报告称:“我们发现,指挥系统对该名前招募和选拔上校的反应过于自卫,没有适当考虑她之前所说的积极歧视行为是否合理,或者她被要求做的事情是否合法;而且没有做出足够的努力来确定事实。”

Former RAF boss should 'correct the record'

前英国皇家空军老大应当“纠正记录”
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Tobias Ellwood, the chair of the defence sext committee, said he and his colleagues would be considering whether to ask the previous chief of the air staff to correct the record after he previously denied any unlawful discrimination had taken place.

国防特别委员会主席托比亚斯·埃尔伍德表示,他和他的同事们将考虑是否要求前空军参谋长纠正这一记录,此前他曾否认存在任何非法歧视。

"I do hope that Mike Wigston, now conveniently retired, recognises how perhaps he misled parliament in coming in front of our committee and should now take this opportunity to correct the record," Mr Ellwood said.

埃尔伍德表示:“我确实希望,现已方便地退役的迈克·威斯顿认识到,也许他是怎么来到我们的委员会面前忽悠了议会的,并且现在应该借此机会纠正这个错误。

"Discrimination was taking place and that was illegal."

“歧视那时就已经发生了,这是违法的。”

He also said those responsible for the unlawful activity should be held to account.

他还表示,应该追究那些对违法行为负责的人的责任。

"You simply cannot have a report such as this which outlines the systemic, deliberate failures that were being done, a pursuance of something that was illegal…. You cannot simply gloss over or even retire from the RAF without comment being made, without some form of reprimand occurring to ensure this doesn't happen again."

“你不可能满意这样一份报告,它(仅仅)概述了正在发生的系统性、故意的失败,以及对违法行为的追求(却不追责)……你不能简单地掩饰,甚至从英国皇家空军退役了而不作出评论,不进行某种形式的谴责,以确保这种情况不会再次发生。”

James Heappey, the armed forces minister, told Sky News last year that any evidence of positive discrimination would be investigated and would not be tolerated.

英国武装部大臣詹姆斯·希皮去年对《天空新闻》表示,任何积极歧视的证据都将受到调查,而且是不能容忍的。