Bernie Ecclestone has cashed the £1m cheque that Labour returned to him in November, the government has revealed. Mr Ecclestone banked the money last week.

Labour returned the donation from the head of Formula One racing after the so-called "cash for favours" row over tobacco sponsorship.

Mr Ecclestone said at the time he did not want the money back.

If he had not cashed by May 25, Labour would have given the money to charities.

Professor Gordon McVie, Director General of the Cancer Research Campaign, said that Mr Ecclestone's decision was evidence that his donation was nothing more than an attempt to improve his business.

He said: "This just underlines the fact that he was intent on improving his business by giving the million in the first place."

Why the cheque was rejected

Within days of the election, Health Secretary Frank Dobson announced that tobacco sponsorship of sporting events would end.

But in October, Mr Ecclestone met with Prime Minister Tony Blair, and pressed the case for an exemption from the ban.

He said the Grand Prix racing would be forced to move its operations to the Far East if support from the tobacco industry was removed from European races.

Then, on October 31, the Health Minister Tessa Jowell circulated proposals to European ministers setting out the case for a Formula One exemption.

The move triggered fierce criticism in what became known as the "cash for favours" row. Labour decided to return the cheque, after being advised to do so by the chairman of the committee on standards in public life, Lord Neill.

However, the debate on Formula One's exemption from the tobacco advertising ban continued until an EU compromise was struck on December 4.

This involved a general ban on tobacco advertising in three years' time, and a requirement for all sports sponsorship by tobacco firms to end by October 1, 2006.
 

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