TORY grandee Kenneth Clarke yesterday urged his party to end its reliance on millionaires and embrace state funding for political parties.

Mr Clarke made the call after seeing David Cameron skewered in Parliament over the almost £5 million accepted by the Tories from “dodgy donors” who squirrelled assets away in Swiss bank accounts.

The Prime Minister also came under fire last week for attending a clandestine £15,000-a-table Tory fundraiser at a Mayfair hotel, where ministers sold their time to millionaires.

Mr Clarke said there was “no way” the former Bullingdon Club member could have avoided the “Black and White” ball.

But he said: “I think the Conservative Party will be strengthened if it is less dependent on having to raise money from wealthy individuals.

“The solution is for the party leaders to get together, to agree, put on their tin hats and move to a more sensible and ultimately more defensible system.”