Official discrimination against whites in Britain: "Companies that bid for multimillion-pound Government contracts will be rejected if they do not employ enough black and Asian workers, under new proposals seen by The Times. A powerful committee that includes seven ministers has drawn up plans to question competing companies about their attitudes to race before choosing which to employ. Firms will be asked to provide figures showing the numbers of their black and Asian employees. This figure will be compared with the proportion of people from ethnic minorities living near the company's offices and will be a factor when deciding the winning bid.... A spokesman for the British Chambers of Commerce said that the plans would hinder the competitive tendering process and make it more difficult and expensive. "Public tenders are already complicated enough," he said. "Lengthening the applications will only further dissuade businesses from applying for public work. "This will do nothing to ensure that government contracts go to the firms with the most competitive bids."