MAJOR: SHAME OF SLEAZY BOZO
Ex-Tory PM blasts ‘unacceptable’ behaviour
SIR John Major has launched an astonishing attack on Boris Johnson’s “shameful” Government.
The former Tory prime minister said it had trashed Parliament’s reputation and was “un-Conservative”.
He added that “sleaze” in Government was unacceptable and “needed to be stopped”.
Sir John spoke after Bozo told Conservative MPs to vote to overhaul the body that polices their conduct – and block a 30-day suspension imposed on ex-minister Owen Paterson.
The Government quickly abandoned the move and apologised after it caused outrage.
The Commons Committee on Standards had recommended Mr
Paterson, who has since announced he is to resign as an MP, be held to account for breaking lobbying rules. He was found to have repeatedly lobbied the Government on behalf of two companies that were paying him more than £100,000 a year.
Sir John said: “I think the way the Government handled [the Paterson scandal] was shameful and wrong. Parliament
cannot be the plaything of any prime minister or indeed any government.”
He claimed Tory MPs were put in “a dreadful position” by Bozo, who ordered a three-line whip to force through the vote.
Major, inset, branded some of the Government’s actions “politically corrupt” and added: “There’s a general whiff of
‘We are the masters now’ about their behaviour.”
Sir John’s own administration was hit by accusations of sleaze in 1994. But he said: “The striking difference is this – in the 1990s I set up a committee to tackle this sort of behaviour.
“Over the last few days we have seen today’s Government trying to defend this sort of behaviour.
“Sleaze is unacceptable, was unacceptable when I was there, and I suffered a great deal of pain and anguish over it. “It’s unacceptable today, and it needs to be stopped.”