Women in the RAF no longer allowed to wear skirts on parade
Women serving in the RAF are no longer allowed to wear skirts on parade, as part of a uniform shake-up designed to make the service more inclusive to transgender personnel.
The change is also understood to have followed feedback from women that marching in skirts is uncomfortable.
Servicewomen are still permitted to wear skirts on other occasions when not marching. An RAF source told the Sun that the updated uniform policy was designed to reflect the RAF as a "modern and inclusive employer".
"We have men who want to live as women, women who want to live as men and personnel who do not identify with any gender.
"The view was we need a uniform policy to cut through all of that and say there is one uniform for everyone and that’s that."
Female recruits were first allowed to wear trousers on parade 16 years ago, in an overhaul of uniform requirements designed to end complaints about ill-fitting, poor quality outfits.
Women can serve in all roles across the RAF, other than as Regiment Officers or Regiment Gunners.
In 2015, the RAF was named one of the top 50 employers for women, who make up around 14 per cent of its personnel, more than the proportion in the Army or Royal Navy.
A spokesman for the RAF said: “Uniform regulations, including dress for formal parades, are regularly reviewed.
"No decisions have been made to make any changes.”
