Sir John Major has accused cabinet ministers, including some running for the leadership, of speaking out against Boris Johnson “only when their silence became self-damaging”.
In scathing comments, the former Tory leader and prime minister told MPs that Britain’s reputation had been undermined and said the blame for lapses lay “principally but not only with the prime minister”.
“Many in the cabinet are culpable too are so are many outside the cabinet who cheered him on,” he added.
“They were silent when they should have spoken out and then spoke out only when their silence became self-damaging”.
However, Sir John stressed that “all of this can be corrected” as he urged parliamentarians and government to restore “constitutional standards and protect from any further slippage”.
His remarks come less than a week after Mr Johnson announced his decision to step down as prime minister after facing mass resignations from the ministerial ranks and a cabinet revolt.
He will remain in No 10 until the Conservative party elects and announces his successor on 5 September, with 10 candidates, including former and current cabinet ministers, running to succeed him.
Hitting out at the actions of Mr Johnson’s administration over the last three years, Sir John warned that both of the UK and Parliament’s reputation has been damaged “at home and overseas”.
In a statement to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee accused the government of flouting a “litany” of long-standing conventions.
“Unlawfully tried to prorogue Parliament, ignored a nationwide lockdown by breaking its own laws in Downing Street, and tried to change parliamentary rules to protect one of their own,” he said.
“The damage from that is widespread and beyond Parliament”.
Pointing to the retreat of democracy in some countries across the world, he stressed: “Democracy is not inevitable. It can be undone step by step, action by action, falsehood by falsehood.
“It should be protected at all times and it seems to me that if our law and our accepted conventions are ignored then you’re on a very slippery slope that ends with pulling our constitutions into shreds”.
