Tom Watson: I won't throw my friend Max Mosley out to the wolves

Labour's deputy leader described the former F1 boss as 'a friend of mine' and said he would not give back more than £500,000 he has received from him in campaign donations.

Mr Mosley is the centre of racism allegations after it emerged he had published a leaflet in 1961 linking non-white immigrants to diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy.

But in a staunch defence of Mr Mosley, West Bromwich East MP Mr Watson said he was the victim of national media attention due to him campaigning for press reform.

"I'm not going to throw Max Mosley out to the wolves because he is courageous enough to come through family tragedy and campaign for change," he said.

"There are very few of us out there."

He said Mr Mosley was 'a friend of mine' who now has 'totally different views'. "If I did think he was racist or fascist then I wouldn't have given him the time of day," Mr Watson said.

"He's had a very unusual life. His father was a fascist leader. You can't decide who your father is, but you can have redemption.

"And I believe in redemption in our society and I believe that Max Mosley 50 years on from that leaflet is a very different person."

Mr Watson said he would not return donations from Mr Mosley, who gave him around £540,000 over a three year period.

He said the money had been invested in 'researching and campaigning', adding that Mr Mosley was 'the subject of press attention because the Leveson proposals were quietly dropped by the Government two weeks ago'.

The controversial proposals would have required newspapers to sign up to a state-backed regulator or risk having to pay legal costs in both sides of a libel case, even if they won.

"It is a disgrace to end a national public inquiry part way through," Mr Watson added.