No smoke without fire

LONDON: The British government has softened its tough stand on tobacco sponsorship by agreeing to an exemption for the British Grand Prix.

The move effectively destroys hopes for a European ban on tobacco sponsorship.

In an apparently unrelated development, it has been reported that F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone sent the Labor Party in Britain a donation of 1.5 million pounds last January. However, the reports say that the donation was returned.