The dismal legacy of the race chief bowled out of his job

It seems fitting that Gurbux Singh's tenure as chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) should end in such ignominy. His departure from this vital and high-profile post was inevitable following his admission that he had drunkenly abused and threatened police outside Lord's cricket ground. There will, unfortunately, be few people who are sorry to see him go.

Mr Singh's comment that he believed his resignation "to be in the best interest of the CRE" is touched with irony, for his record has been disappointing. Under his chairmanship, the CRE has abandoned the high-profile campaigning role it took up under his predecessor, Sir Herman Ouseley. And its record in undertaking formal investigations of institutional racism, and even in its bread-and-butter work of taking up prosecutions on behalf of people claiming discrimination in the workplace or by government, has worsened.

Some might argue that the CRE has outlived its usefulness, since racism in our society has become so apparent that even some of the most conservative organisations, from the police to the Crown Prosecution Service, have begun to face up to the problem. This is, however, a flawed argument: in spite of progress in recent years, racism remains a curse at all levels of British society. The problem is that the CRE has lost its teeth at a time when racism and xenophobia are more potent than they have been for many years.

Such is its weakness that the CRE is to be killed off as part of a government plan to wrap up all the various anti-discrimination quangos into one large Equality Commission. This will do more harm than good. In such a hodgepodge of differing causes, the high-profile issues – such as racism and sexism – may well draw attention and resources away from such equally important, if lower-key, matters as equality for the disabled or elderly. While the discrimination suffered by all minorities may seem similar, in reality they face very different difficulties.

There may be those who feel that Mr Singh has paid too high a price for a moment's aberration. However, his departure is cushioned by a £115,000 pay-off, which should ease the blow. Meanwhile, his legacy is the neutering of a body needed more than ever.