Race row would have blown over if I kept job, says Sir Ian

Ousted Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair told today how the racism row which engulfed his final days would have "disappeared" in a year if he had stayed on.

Sir Ian, who was forced out by Mayor Boris Johnson in October, defended his record on race saying the dispute involving Britain's most senior Asian officer would have blown over.

His position as head of Scotland Yard was severely damaged when Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur launched a race tribunal against the force alleging Sir Ian had personally discriminated against him.

Speaking today for the first time about the row he said: "Even my sternest critics found that a rather odd allegation. If I had done another year, it would have disappeared."

Sir Ian would not comment directly on the accusations he faced but said he was writing a book which would reveal the true circumstances about his resignation.

In an interview with the religious affairs correspondent of The Times, he revealed he had received support from many black officers in the Met. He said that ethnic minorities had not been put off joining the force. "I am very pleased that now one in five of our recruits is from minorities, a position impossible to imagine five or six years ago."

Sir Ian said that the support of his church community kept him going after the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, the innocent Brazilian shot accidentally by police marksmen in July 2005.