Race face-saving at the Met

Last month I wrote a piece in Prospect ("The Problem with pc PCs," November 2008) about the ongoing racial rumblings in London's metropolitan police. Today, Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur’s settlement of his racism claim against the Met leaves the very strong feeling that both parties have seized the first possible excuse to get themselves out of a deeply embarrassing situation. The involuntary departure of Ghaffur’s boss, Sir Ian Blair, next week, was that excuse. But Ghaffur’s original claim of Met racism went far wider than Sir Ian; and today, in an interview with my newspaper The Evening Standard, you can almost hear the disappointment in the voice of Ali Dizaei, Ghaffur’s colleague in the Met Black Police Association, that a race reckoning has been avoided.

The Met has conceded some ground, agreeing a reported payment of £300,000. But that, it transpires, includes its "contractual obligations" to Ghaffur, and only a "contribution" to his legal costs. Reading between the lines, once Ghaffur has paid the rest of his lawyer’s bill it doesn’t sound as if he will come out of it much, if at all, better off than if he had simply left in the usual way. Ghaffur, meanwhile, has also been obliged to withdraw his claim of racism, and agree to a gagging order. It was still a good deal for Ghaffur. His case never looked all that strong; as I said in Prospect, there are still strong suspicions that he only took it as far as he did thanks to pressure from Mr Dizaei, who faces his own serious disciplinary charges and may wish to present those as another manifestation of Met "racism."

The Met is less racist than it used to be, but still has areas of racism; enough black officers and citizens' experience problems to persuade me of that. But the cause of equal opportunities has been little advanced by this case. The festering problem of race remains one of the biggest issues for the Ian Blair's replacement as Met Commissioner, whoever he or she may be.