positive discrimination

But Mr Lau argued that section of the law was designed to permit "positive discrimination" and not "negative discrimination".

Dr Richards, who is a physicist at Imperial College, also addressed potential criticism of the scheme; that it is positive discrimination for individuals who would not get funding on the merits of their research.

Last month, the nation's highest court voted 6-3 to repeal affirmative action, also known as positive discrimination, a decades-old measure in the United States.

Initiatives to increase the numbers of women and people from ethnic minorities in the RAF led to illegal positive discrimination, an inquiry has found.

The inquiry, conducted by the Ministry of Defence, found the pressure to meet those targets led to illegal, positive discrimination.