Tony Blair interviewed on the 'Ecclestone Affair' 

The Labour government came to office in May 1997 with a pledge to ban advertising for tobacco products. Formula 1 motor racing was particularly dependent on tobacco advertising and lobbied hard for an exception. On 5 November it was announced that the government had conceded; within a week, the Labour Party announced that it was returning a substantial donation (later revealed to be £1m) to Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone, following advice from the Committee on Standards in Public Life.
With widespread accusations that the policy had been influenced by the donation, Tony Blair gave a lengthy live interview on BBC One's 'On The Record' (16 November 1997) to defend himself. The full transcript from the BBC is here: www.bbc.co.uk/o...
Note that the early part of the interview concerns Iraq's failure to comply with UN Security Council resolutions.