Step down, colleagues tell Asian officer accusing Met chief of racism

Britain's most senior Asian police officer was accused today of damaging the fight against crime in London after denouncing Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair as a racist.

Colleagues of the Assistant Commissioner said his war of words against his boss was making it almost impossible to work alongside him in the battle against crime.

Mr Ghaffur, 53, has launched a race discrimination claim against the Met, saying that he had been repeatedly discriminated against and undermined by Sir Ian.

He is demanding a public apology and an extension to his contract, blaming the Commissioner for sidelining him in his role leading security for London's 2012 Olympic Games.

Speaking for the first time on the issue at a press conference yesterday-Mr Ghaffur said his employment tribunal claim would include accusations of racial and religious discrimination.

He said that he was harassed by Sir Ian and another senior Yard officer, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Richard Bryant, that he was excluded from key meetings and was criticised for his language skills in a way that amounted to racial discrimination.

Deputy Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said the force would "robustly challenge" the claims. He urged Mr Ghaffur to "shut up" and stop speaking publicly about the dispute.

A number of other senior colleagues now believe that it is almost impossible to work alongside Mr Ghaffur.

One high-ranking source said: "There has been a complete breakdown in trust. To call your boss a racist and then expect to carry on as normal is ridiculous. It is almost on a level of calling him a paedophile. It is a terrible insult.

"This is completely distracting at a time when kids are killing each other and violent crime among young people is exploding. The situation is a disgrace and cannot possibly go on.

"He ought to take the decision to stand aside. Tarique has been badly advised."

Len Duvall, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, told the Evening Standard that he also believed Mr Ghaffur should step aside until his legal case was concluded.

He said: "He should not be part of the management board while this continues. The board of senior officers should be focusing on policing London and protecting Londoners and not focusing on themselves.

"He should step down now. Everything should be about protecting people in London."

Lawyers are examining whether Mr Ghaffur can be put on "gardening leave" or suspended pending the outcome of his tribunal claim.

They are believed to have advised the Metropolitan Police Authority, which oversees the running of the force, that such a move could lead to the Assistant Commissioner bringing a fresh claim for victimisation.

Mr Ghaffur, who earns £180,000 a year, is claiming that he has been undermined as head of central operations at the Yard and that actions by Sir Ian led to the Home Office removing him from his role as overall head of Olympics security.

Alfred John, chairman of the Met's Black Police Association, said that Mr Ghaffur's case was "not an isolated incident".

Sir Ian, who has rejected the claims against him, has said that he has a "long, honourable and occasionally blood-stained record on the championing of diversity".