A minister at the Home Office launched an unprecedented attack yesterday on the chairman of the commission for racial equality for his criticism of government plans to place asylum seekers in accommodation centres.

Gurbux Singh, the CRE's chairman, had called for the government to do more to make the case for economic migration into Britain in a speech yesterday. He had urged the government to intensify its efforts to .

Mr Singh also said government plans to improve social cohesion after last year's riots in three northern towns had neglected racial equality.

Lord Rooker, the minister for citizenship and immigration, called Mr Singh's comments "ill informed".

The slapdown of the head of the government's race watchdog was the first public criticism by a minister of a chairman of the CRE since Labour came to power.

In a speech marking the CRE's 25th anniversary, Mr Singh attacked the government's plans, unveiled this week, for rural accommodation centres for asylum seekers. "If we want a cohesive and well integrated society, is this really the best way to prepare new arrivals and the host community for an integrated Britain?" he asked.

Mr Singh said that in the past immigration had benefited Britain, and more was needed. "Why do people see this as a threat? I believe we fail to give positive messages. We fail to challenge negative headlines, because we areafraid to upset middle England. This cannot be acceptable."Lord Rooker hit back: "I am very disappointed by these ill informed comments. Accommodation centres are designed to speed up the system of dealing with asylum applications."

The minister defended the government on making a case for increased economic migration. "We have spent a great deal of time promoting the benefits of managed economic migration. Social cohesion depends on developing this migration, so that people can see and feel its benefits."

He added: "Rather than attack our policies, Gurbux should recognise that they are about building trust in the system that will strengthen social cohesion and race relations."

In the speech Mr Singh signalled a radical policy shift and vowed to tackle the repeated "vilification" of asylum seekers - a move that risked putting the CRE on a collision course with the government.

Mr Singh said his publicly funded body would stand up to the small-mindedness of middle England.

The watchdog has no formal powers over asylum, and has avoided the debate because of the issues raising acute political sensitivity. But insiders at CRE said they found the debate on asylum so fierce and negative that it was destabalising race relations generally.

Sources said the decision would result in behind-the-scenes efforts by the CRE to persuade the government to moderate the vehemence of its language on asylum seekers and to emphasise the benefits of immigration. It would also mean a readiness to criticise ministers publicly - as seen in Mr Singh's condemnation of the home secretary's claim that services were being "swamped" by asylum seekers.

In a speech billed as refreshing thinking on race, Mr Singh pointed to a Mori opinion poll that found widespread negative perceptions of asylum and immigration: "This is indicative of a wider problem in British society of how immigration and asylum is packaged for the public. I think we have a fundamental problem of explanation and presentation."

He said that he accepted there were economic migrants trying falsely to claim asylum. He also said the arrival of asylum seekers posed challenges to overstretched public services and poor communities.

He added: "But surely this cannot justify the vilification of asylum seekers in public and popular debate. We require a fundamental shift on the nature of the debate on asylum, and we need it now."

He called for social cohesion, saying "recent concern with cohesion in Britain appeared to neglect equality".