RAF goes woke with gender neutral terms

The RAF has ditched the terms “airmen” and “airwomen” in favour of the gender neutral title “aviator”.

The decision was quietly announced in the November issue of AirClues, an official RAF magazine, in a section about safety objectives.

It reads: “By the way, if that’s the first time you’ve heard the term ‘aviator’ ... then get on board. No longer does it mean just aircrew, but the term ‘aviator’ has now replaced the generic term of ‘airman’ to bring right up to date the way we should describe all of our personnel in a modern and appropriate manner.

“So, it’s no longer ‘Soldiers, Sailors & Airmen’ but ‘Soldiers, Sailors & Aviators’. Watch out for TV commentators getting used to that.”

The move drew a furious reaction from Patrick Mercer, former Tory MP and retired army colonel.

Mercer, 65, whose 25 years as an army officer included postings to Northern Ireland and Bosnia, told Colin Brazier on GB News: “Warfare is tough warfare is difficult and warfare is about killing people and not getting killed yourself.”

“It's about getting on with the job, and completely ignoring the woke nonsense, which seems to be infecting the whole of our society and sadly, our Armed Forces"