The former prime minister is a huge critic of Boris Johnson since the former Mayor of London entered 10 Downing Street three years ago. In his latest outburst, Sir John lashed out at senior Conservative Party MPs for failing to speak out against the outgoing Prime Minister, warning they had left the UK “damaged”. Appearing before a House of Commons committee today, he was furious: “What has been done over the past three years has damaged our country at home and abroad and I think it has also damaged Parliament’s reputation.
“The blame for these mistakes must lie primarily – mainly, but not only – with the Prime Minister, but many in his cabinet are also to blame and that includes those outside the cabinet who have encouraged him.
“They were silent when they should have spoken and only spoke when their silence became self-harming.”
But the relentless criticism of the former Prime Minister of Mr Johnson and his government has provoked a furious response from a staunch Brexiteer.
GB News presenter and political commentator Darren Grimes tweeted: “Sir John Major’s opinion is about as welcome as a fart in an elevator.
“I don’t think it’s going to cancel Tory Party membership.”
Sir John made his remarks at a meeting of the Committee on Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs as part of its inquiry into ethics and decency in government.
He read an opening statement to the committee saying the government has “broken the law” and “its own laws”, claiming that the “damage from that is widespread and beyond parliament”.
The former prime minister said: “I think the whole country knows the litany.
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“If you look around the world, you’ll see it’s receding in a lot of countries and it’s been going on for 10 to 15 years or more and it looks like it’s going to continue to be that way.
“Democracy is not inevitable. It can be undone step by step, action by action, lie by lie.
“It must be protected at all times and it seems to me that if our law and our accepted conventions are ignored, we are on a very slippery slope that ends up with our constitution being ripped to shreds.”
The former prime minister also called for changes to the codes of conduct for ministers.
He added: “Bad habits, if they become ingrained, can set a precedent and a precedent can perpetuate bad habits for a very long time and that should not be allowed.”
Sir John’s latest outburst comes less than a week after Mr Johnson bowed to the pressure of a hurricane of the sacking of MPs and ministers by announcing his resignation.
The government had become embroiled in the ‘Partygate’ controversy, with the Prime Minister being fined for attending a Downing Street party during the first Covid lockdown.
Last month he survived a confidence vote in the House of Commons, but the final blow came when dozens of MPs and ministers – including Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid – resigned after a furious response to the Chris Pitcher scandal.