Former Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major this morning became the latest figure to hit out at the current government over the the Owen Paterson scandal.
In an extraordinary broadside, Major - who lead the government and the party from 1990 to 1997 - called the current cabinet's behaviour 'very un-Conservative' and argued some of their actions have been 'politically corrupt'.
'There’s a general whiff of "we are the master’s now" about their behaviour and I think this is cutting through to the public,' Major told the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme.
'It seems to be me as a lifelong conservative that much of what they are doing is very un-conservative in its behaviour,' he added.
His appearance on the show came after a Daily Mail poll found 57 percent of voters agreed with chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life and former MI5 chief Lord Evans' assertion that Britain could ‘slip into becoming a corrupt country’.
The poll was carried out during an extraordinary week in Westminster, which ended with former Cabinet minister Mr Paterson resigning as an MP – and senior Tories seriously questioning the judgment of Mr Johnson, who had backed him.
Major directly referenced the poll, and said: 'I think the way the government handled that was shameful and wrong and unworthy of this or indeed any government.
'A number of Conservative MPs rebelled and very well done them – I wish more had had the courage to do so and I suspect they will in future because they were put in a dreadful position by the Prime Minister.'
The poll found the public believe Boris Johnson is leading the ‘sleaziest’ government in more than 40 years of British politics and is considered more than twice as ‘sleazy’ as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
But even amid widespread criticism of his bungled handling of an attempt to ditch the parliamentary standards system, the Prime Minister is still ahead of Sir Keir in the personal ratings war.
Former Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major (pictured in 2019, file photo) this morning became the latest figure to hit out at the current government over the the Owen Paterson scandal
The Owen Paterson scandal led to accusations of a return to Tory corruption, voters believe MPs should be ordered to give up lucrative second jobs outside Parliament, the Daily Mail poll revealed
Mr Paterson had previously been found guilty of breaking Commons rules by lobbying for two firms that paid him £500,000, and was facing a 30-day suspension from the Commons as punishment.
In an attempt to let Mr Paterson off the hook, the Government backed and won a vote on plans to tear up Parliament’s anti-sleaze rules on Wednesday.
But the next morning, the Government was forced into a humiliating U-turn in the face a public outcry and anger among Tories, who had been forced to back the amendment.
With Mr
