It would clearly be better for half-a-million people to give �15 rather than for 15 people to give half-a-million pounds

Michael Ashcroft

The Conservative peer says big donors do not necessarily want to change policy and he argues against introducing full state funding for parties.

His comments come after Tony Blair said he would love to "get shot" of having to raise party funds but did not know how to solve the problem.

Lord Ashcroft said the claims over big donations had to be kept in perspective as only two or three per cent of Labour's budget associated with "so-called problems".

Belize links

The Labour Party could afford to be more careful about donations because it did not rely on the controversial cash to run its activities, he said.

The former Tory treasurer has himself come under scrutiny because of his close links with the government of Belize.

Richard Desmond publishes magazines like Horny Housewives

In 2000, the tycoon promised to give up his tax-exile status and come to live back in the UK as a condition of accepting his peerage.

He also said he would no longer act as Belizean ambassador to the United Nations.

Lord Ashcroft told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there was nothing inherently wrong with big donations.

Change is 'inevitable'

"But it would clearly be better for half-a-million people to give �15 rather than for 15 people to give half-a-million pounds," he said.

He begins an article for The Times by suggesting his words might be seen by some as like "a discourse on the social acceptability of cannibalism from the pen of Hannibal Lector".

Big donors do not necessarily want to "pull strings", he argues.

Tony Blair doubts there is public support for state funding

But he told Today: "If the media attention, as it is, and our political opponents focus very heavily on the composition of donations, it will inevitably lead political parties down the path of donations that are acceptable in today's climate."

That would mean parties trying harder to broaden their membership base.

"Merely because there is a problem on a small amount of donors which gets plenty of media space, it is not then correct to make the taxpayer fund the entire budget of political parties."

Desmond donation

Tony Blair has defended Labour's decision to take money from pornography publisher Richard Desmond.

In an interview for the BBC's Newsnight, Mr Blair said he was not personally familiar with the content of the magazines owned by Mr Desmond's Northern and Shell company.

"But I do know that if someone is fit and proper to own one of the major newspaper groups in the country, there's no reason why we shouldn't accept donations from them," he said.

Mr Blair underlined the measures Labour has taken to make party donations more transparent.

That move has failed to stop media and opposition attacks in a series of donations rows and Home Secretary David Blunkett has suggested state funding for parties is inevitable.

Funding dilemma

The prime minister said: "Look, if I could get shot of ever raising a single penny for the Labour Party ever again, would I not do it? Absolutely, of course I would."

But moving to state funding would need the consensus among the political parties, he said.

"You can't have a situation where we as a government use our majority to push it through.

"And I'm not sure the public would accept it either. So, I honestly don't know what to do about this."