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Ghaffur rejects payout because he won't deny Sir Ian is a racist
Amar Singh20.10.08
BRITAIN'S most senior Muslim officer has been offered a six-figure sum to settle his race discrimination case against the force, the Standard can reveal.
Sources close to Tarique Ghaffur say the deal, tabled by the Metropolitian Police Authority, contained a contentious clause that would force the Muslim officer to declare that Met chief Sir Ian Blair was not racist.
But Assistant Commissioner Ghaffur, 50, is said to have rejected the offer as he still believed Sir Ian personally discriminated against him on the grounds of his race.
Mr Ghaffur was suspended this summer after accusing the Met's leadership including the commissioner of sidelining him from key duties in favour of white officers. The Met denies the claim.
Mediation talks have been ongoing between two sides, and both hope that an agreement can be reached ahead of Sir Ian's departure on 1 December.
Today a source close to Mr Ghaffur said: "The MPA has put an offer on the table but Tarique has made it very clear that he will not accept Sir Ian's terms that he goes back on his accusation that he was unfairly treated by Sir Ian because of his race and religion.
"Sir Ian wants to protect his legacy before he goes and the force wants to wrap up this case so that the new commissioner does not have to clean up the mess.
"The other top bosses at the Met and the MPA want a speedy end to the matter but Sir Ian has insisted that he will not be remembered as a racist. This stubborn assertion that Tarique must hold his hands up and say that he wrongfully labelled Sir Ian racist is a major sticking point. After being closer to a resolution they are back to square one again."
An MPA spokeswoman said: "We are currently in negotiation with AC Tarique Ghaffur regarding allegations he brought against the MPS. We are not prepared to discuss financial issues as this is a confidential matter." Mr Ghaffur's solicitor Shahrokh Mireskandari declined to comment on the matter.
Sir Ian Blair announced his resignation as the country's top police officer this month after his reputation was tainted with a spate of controversies, including race rows with several senior officers.
Another senior Muslim MPS employee, 42-year-old diversity director Yasmin Rehman, is suing the force claiming that she was bullied because of her colour and gender, which drove her to the brink of suicide.
Details of her tribunal, which has been filed with the east London employment tribunal in Stratford, emerged this weekend.
Her discrimination claim states that one senior detective did not want Rehman to touch her coffee cup or even make her coffee, while another said that "people from your culture do not understand that when we go to Hendon [police training centre] we get a uniform and automatically get respect, you don't understand that".
The Met and MPA are also hoping to settle Ms Rehman's case outside a tribunal.
Reader views (5)
Wait let me get this right, the "Assistant Commissioner", an Iranian Muslim with one of the highest positions in the most important police force in the UK, is claiming that the person who gave him the job is a racist???
- Frank, Home Counties, England
He should not be given one penny. His risible claims against the PC PC need to be exposed for the sham they are, and then if they are so found, he should be dismissed without the huge pension he will undoubtedly enjoy at the poor long-suffering taxpayers' expense.
- 45govt, Barbados
I was the first MPA member to call for Sir Ian to resign almost three years ago and I always had a lot of time for Tarique Ghaffur. But Tarique, really? If this story is true then I am sorry you are completely wrong on Sir Ian. He is simply not in the least bit racist - quite the opposite. In every sense like that, he is a very decent person indeed and if he wants to protect his reputation in that area then he has my support. What an awful awful mess.
- Damian Hockney, London, UK
How can the MPA possibly justify the use of large amounts of public money to brush this affair under the carpet? The full details of this case - which is damaging to the police force's morale and reputation - need to be exposed to public scrutiny so that London's ratepayers can be reassured that their force is being managed with the efficiency and impartiality that we have a right to expect. One of the results of Sir Ian Blair's sorry time in office is that public confidence in both the commissioner and his senior management has evaporated: actions such as the attempted buying off of awkward critics do nothing to restore the public trust the MPA needs.
- R. Goodacre, London SW15
'Diversity Director'. Just about says everything one needs to know about the parlous state of the Police Force in this country. As ye reap so shall ye sow. Bending over backwards to minorities is just going to get you a brown foot up the arse.
- Squiz, Islington
