Scotland Yard boss accused of racism to be removed: Report

Embattled Scotland Yard boss Ian Blair, who has been accused of racial discrimination by an Asian origin Muslim officer, is set to be on his way out to halt the "collapse of morale" in the Metropolitan Police, a news report said on Thursday.

"He has become the issue. There comes a point when fairness has nothing to do with it and what matters is the integrity of the organisation," a well-placed source was quoted as saying by The Times newspaper on Thursday.

According to British daily, detailed plans are being prepared to oust Sir Blair from his position as head of Scotland Yard in an attempt to halt the collapse of morale in the city police force.

"The grey suits are gathering. Ian has already been asked to consider whether his staying in the job is damaging the Met. The infighting at the top of the Yard is sapping the morale of the men and women doing the job on the street," a senior source told the paper.

The report said ministers, senior officials and leading police chiefs have "secretly" discussed arrangements for replacing the embattled commissioner by the end of this year.

Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, who is Britain's top Muslim officer, has charged the Metropolitan Police chief of racial discrimination, and started employment tribunal proceedings. Sir Ian is also at the centre of an inquiry into allegations that he influenced the award of police contracts to a close friend.

Ugandan-born Ghaffur, whose parents were from Pakistan, arrived in Britain in the early 1970s. Ghaffur, who has sought compensation of 1 million pound, claimed Sir Blair had discriminated against him "over a long period of time" and sidelined him from his job in charge of security for the 2012 Olympics.

According to the London-based daily, the first step will be taken this week when Scotland Yard chief Blair is told formally, in writing, that his contract will not be renewed when it expires in February 2010.

The plan envisages Blair staying in the post to act as a "lightning conductor" for criticism of the Met at the inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, which opens this month. He would then be approached to stand down in the best interests of the force.

Fifty-five-year-old Blair hoped to be commissioner during the Olympics but his leadership, which has been dogged by controversy, has become increasingly precarious in recent years, with three serious challenges to his authority over the summer.

The inquest into the death of Menezes, who was shot seven times in the head after being mistaken for a suicide bomber at Stockwell, South London, in July 2005, is expected to be hugely damaging for the Yard.

Should Blair, who has described himself as "a bit of a limpet", resist an approach to step down he could be removed, the report said.

Sources told the daily that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith had consulted on sacking the police chief last year after the Met was convicted of breaching health and safety laws in the operation that led to Menezes' death.