Public bodies across the nation have been slapped with accusations of discrimination against white candidates as they pursue diverse hiring practices.
When hiring new candidates, councils have been found to have employment shortlists that are sure to include candidates who belong to black and ethnic minority backgrounds.
Meanwhile, Britain's universities have used race as a hiring "tie-breaker" to choose between candidates.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has lambasted the diversity practices, describing them as "discriminatory and unfair".
Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders as he entered the White House - which included throwing out federal DEI schemes
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He said: "The public sector should be a meritocracy that attracts the best talent. It’s time to end the social engineering of race, gender and identity into every aspect of our lives and reforge a society that is colourblind and merit-based."
Such DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) schemes gathered international attention after Donald Trump signed an executive order to axe such schemes across the federal workforce on his first day back in the White House.
Under the Equality Act 2010, positive action schemes are legal in the UK.
Westminster City Council is just one of many councils that deploys a manipulated version of the Rooney Rule, which calls for at least one candidate from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background to make the recruitment shortlist.
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Nicknamed "the CEO who's proud to be called 'too woke'", council chief executive Stuart Love has said that his hiring managers must produce a diverse shortlist of prospective candidates.
The council has denied any allegations that they adhere to the diversity rule.
Although the rule is not in place anymore, Birmingham City Council had tried to implement the Rooney Rule "to address the current, visible imbalance in gender and black, Asian and minority ethnic representation across the authority" in 2020.
Other councils introducing similar schemes include London City Hall, who tried to encouraged adult education providers to use the rule when hiring new recruits.
Hirers at the University of St Andrews were warned against asking for too many years of experience
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Dubious hiring systems were also uncovered by The Times at the University of Wolverhampton, which deploys race as a "tie-breaker" when whittling down potential candidates.
Additionally, hirers at the University of St Andrews were warned against asking for too many years of experience - since it threatened to discriminate against women since they were more likely to have taken professional breaks.
A spokesman for Wolverhampton University told The Times: "We are pleased that UK legislation allows employers to use positive action to prioritise the hiring of candidates from underrepresented groups on the condition the candidate is as qualified for the role as other applicants."
GB News has approached Westminster City Council, Birmingham City Council and the University of St Andrews for comment.
