A Royal Air Force cadet has been suspended after allegedly stating that Islam represents the greatest security threat to the UK.
The comment is said to have been made during a question-and-answer session at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire.
During the session, the cadet and around 50 other students were required to deliver presentations and respond to questions about what they believed to be the country’s most significant security risk. According to reports, the cadet has been removed from the officer training course while an investigation—confirmed by the RAF as ongoing—takes place. Retired Rear Admiral Chris Parry has criticised the RAF’s response, arguing that the cadet should be permitted to resume training.
MSN reports: He said if he was running the session, he would have asked the cadet to “expand on his thinking and got some critical thinking going”, rather than suspend him.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, which broke the story, he said: “Clearly Islamic extremism is the issue and not Islam, but how are young people expected to develop critical thinking around these complex issues if they are shut down in this way?
“This is the fault of a system that is training its young people but not allowing them to express themselves and develop their thoughts.
“Any mature educational establishment should do just that.”
The retired senior officer also said he doubts the cadet would’ve been suspended if he answered “the far-right”, adding this “appears to have been a missed opportunity to discuss that for fear of causing offence”.
RAF Cranwell is where the Air Force’s next generation of officers are trained.
The cadet who was suspended was undergoing a 24-week Modular Initial Officers Training course just before Easter, according to the Mail.
An RAF spokesman said: “We are aware of an alleged incident of inappropriate behaviour involving a cadet at RAF Cranwell. An investigation is ongoing, we are unable to comment further.”