Tom McArdle – The Telegraph March 10, 2025
The RAF is facing a pilot shortage after a diversity hiring scheme backfired.
An official document has revealed the Royal Air Force’s need for “a higher number of pilots in training”.
The Air Force is so short-staffed that candidates who were previously rejected are being urged to reapply, as well as older applicants who have experience in “flying-related roles”.
The pleas come as Sir Keir Starmer reiterated the UK’s willingness to put “boots on the ground and planes in the air” to help Ukraine secure a peace deal.
The Prime Minister has already announced a boost in defence spending, which will increase to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027.
The RAF now needs a “higher number of pilots in training”, according to a document seen by the Daily Mail.
Air chiefs want the gaps filled by those who may have previously been rejected.
In an RAF internal briefing note titled “Opportunities for professional transfer to the pilot specialisation”, staff are encouraged to transfer because of a need for more pilots “required for flying training”.
Candidates must be younger than 24 when they apply, although older applicants with experience in similar roles would be considered.
‘Woke manipulation of recruiting practices’
The same scheme is open to weapons systems operators.
Mark Francois, the shadow Armed Forces minister, told the paper: “The RAF’s availability of combat pilots has been hit by a perfect storm: including woke manipulation of recruiting practices, the revival of civilian airlines post-Covid and technical issues with training aircraft, particularly engine reliability on the Hawk T2.
“All this really matters. If we are now going to see ‘jets in the sky’ defending any Ukrainian peace deal, then we need enough trained pilots to fly them.
“As we approach VE Day celebrations, it is worth remembering that the RAF never ran out of Spitfires or Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain, but we very nearly ran out of fighter pilots.”
The shortage comes after the RAF’s diversity drive was found to be unlawful to white male would-be recruits.
Under Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston’s stewardship, the air force committed to having 40 per cent women and 20 per cent of personnel from ethnic minorities by 2030.
During the drive, leaked emails showed air chiefs were told to stop choosing “useless white male pilots” in an attempt to improve diversity.
In 2023, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton apologised following an inquiry into the bias.
Sir Richard admitted that the force’s recruitment process had erroneously “fast-tracked” 161 enlisted aviators, who were either women or from ethnic minority backgrounds, into initial training before other candidates between 2020 and 2021.
Lack of engineers
He acknowledged that the RAF conceded “some men experienced discrimination” as a result, citing a group of 31 individuals who likely missed the chance to qualify for a £5,000 joining bonus.
The RAF shortage also comes as the former head of the Army last year warned Britain’s security had been put “at risk” because of a helicopter training crisis.
Lord Dannatt said underfunding had resulted in a lack of engineers to maintain aircraft, meaning flying lessons had been paused.
An RAF spokesman told the Daily Mail: “We have sufficient pilots and aircrew to conduct all current operations and service the front line.
“Additionally, active management of the flying training system has reduced training times and the backlog of student aircrew in the training pipeline.
“This good progress has enabled us to reopen aircrew applications for serving personnel.”
The RAF was approached for comment.
Tower Bridge closed as man causes chaos by scaling Thames landmark
Story by Josh Salisbury and Daniel Keane •
A distressed man scaled Tower Bridge forcing police to shut the landmark Thames crossing to traffic.
The incident sparked congestion to Limehouse back along the Highway and in the one-way system back to Aldgate. Buses were placed on diversion.
Police said the man wearing pink bondage trousers scaled the world-famous landmark shortly before 11am, but he was brought down safely at around 12.20pm.
At first he refused police help claiming they were all secret natzis
but shouted to the public watching from below
” people think i am a c*nt, and i am not
well maybe just a little bit”
The incident comes a day after a man was arrested after spending more than 16 hours barefoot and holding a Palestine flag while perched on the clock tower of Big Ben.
The man scaled the Elizabeth Tower on Saturday morning and finally came down just after midnight on Sunday, with images from the scene showing the man being lifted to the ground in a cherry picker.
“sir” this said that, “lord” whatever said the other. In “britain” the british aren’t allowed to carry anything that remotely looks like a weapon, but immigrants get fighter planes to slaughter anyone the “sirs” and “lords” tell them to.
I doubt the shortage is due to “recruitment” policies. It’s far more likely due to the 83% who state they wouln’t piss on britain if it was on fire. The “great reset” is coming on “splendidly” – ask glucksberg.
The Top Trump in the WRAF, well,the visible one…
.. is some sort of common purpose feminist appa-rat-chick , that hates white men because they find her unappealing and shrewish.. and are impervious to her boozy sexual innuendo and desperate petitioning..
and although an imbecile of refined distinction and completely bereft of any notable positive qualities..she can count to two on her thumbs.. honest..
and certainly shouldn’t give up on the gay troon lobby in Whitehall’s plan to create unlimited squadrons of point and go Kamikaze diversity…
not simply because nature has forced her hand, after all, but because Pirate Rocks Big Mommy statist states require its body bags filled.. and it’s tons of minced prole flesh, at regular intervals…
even if it’s a failed flyboy rubber ringer from Kazakhstan..or an architect rapper from Chiswick..
NB: They could send the survivors to fly camels and carpets in Saudi Arabia..a long tradition on the Blighted Rock..
Shortage of pilots after diversity scheme backfires? But that was such a compelling recruitment poster, the one with nothing but street-shitters and mongrels in their costumes touting the new RAF…apparently an acronym for Royally Ass F*cked…
And we were treated to the shadow Armed Forces minister and village idiot vomiting out, “If we are now going to see ‘jets in the sky’ defending any Ukrainian peace deal {…}” … Er umm what? Still more concerned about the borders of Jewkraine than that of your own cuntry? I mean, why worry about all the boats loaded with less than worthless orc niggers and mongrels pouring in, it’s not like anything bad could happen…
The village idiot continued with, “As we approach VE Day celebrations, it is worth remembering that…” … our ancestors fought for The. Wrong. F*cking. Side.
“Under Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston’s stewardship, the air force committed to having 40 per cent women and 20 per cent of personnel from ethnic minorities by 2030.” … Wigston should be stripped naked, his teeth bashed out, dragged through the streets by his ankles, violently sodomized by a mob of randy orc “minorities”, then hanged from a highway overpass.
The scheme didn’t backfire. It worked perfectly.Stop pretending TPTB are stupid.
Financially bankrupt UK, aims to further increase its debt. What good are RAF planes against Russian S400’s and the new S500’s?
“As we approach VE Day celebrations,…” should read:
As we approach the destruction of Europe “celebrations”.
Oopsie! Looks like the RAF is in the same sad state as HRH! TOTALLY effed up and faggotized! Such a pity.
What, the RAF can’t find enough brainpower from da homeboys uvv Peckham. Brixton, Tottenham, Birmingham? What about Brixton Prison or Strangeways, there are plenty of bloodclots wastin time innit dat could be flaaahhhin dat shit bruh, innit?
What about the home gurls an dat innit?
DEI etc.??….now comes home to roost.
Even if they brought more normal people in to train ….the system is so infested and infiltrated with whackos and weirdos you’d be endangering your life relying on your LGBQT etc. comrades.
Would you trust some 375 lb transgender with tatoos ,body piercing, and purple hair to be your co-pilot…mechanic..superior etc.
The life you save may be your own !
Gee- what a surprise.
The question has to be asked: how much is a brown Britain worth defending by a white Englishman?
“Near the end of World War II, some RAF pilots were as young as 19, and some stories suggest that even younger pilots flew bomber missions.” Some of them were virtually kids. Is the RAF going to repeat this strategy? Just an afterthought, I have experience flying a kite (which was/and still is illegal) and a model aircraft. If the money is OK, I’d like to volunteer. I quite fancy flying a F-35 Lightning II, as long as the Iranians don’t shoot back at me; I don’t think that would be fair! 😉👍
Just when you thought the Bwitish “Top Bwass” couldn’t possibly get any THICKER!!!
🤣🤣🤣
Perfidious Albion’s subjects come home to roost with a vengeance upon the heads of her alleged citizens.
In comedy, Armstrong and Miller showed how it would go, when they put young people’s idiot speech into the mouths of WW2 pilots