David Cameron has been accused of failing to tell Gulf states to crack down on the flow of funds to Isis because of the Conservative party’s links to rich Arab individuals. 

Former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown suggested that the Prime Minister had not put enough pressure on countries such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar to stop its “rich businessmen” funding the Salafists and the Wahhabists and had also failed to do enough to persuade them from joining the bombing of Isis in Syria.  

This could be explained by the “closeness” between Gulf donors and the Tory party in the UK, Lord Ashdown alleged. 

He also accused the Prime Minister of shelving a report on the funding of the Muslim Brotherhood in Britain because it came up with findings that were “unhelpful” to the Saudis. 

Mr Cameron will present a “comprehensive” plan for defeating Isis on Thursday, which will include extending RAF air strikes to targets in Syria. 

Lord Ashdown said the proposals must include a role for the Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who he said had been notably absent from the Coalition effort to bomb Isis in recent months. 

At the same time he said funds had continued to flow from donors in the two countries to the Islamic terrorist group. 

Speaking on the Today programme, Lord Ashdown said: “The failure to put pressure on the Gulf states - and especially Saudi and Qatar - first of all to stop funding the Salafists and the Wahhabists, secondly to play a large part in this campaign, and other actions where the Government has refused to have a proper inquiry into the funding of jihadism in Britain, leads me to worry about the closeness between the Conservative Party and rich Arab Gulf individuals.