‘THIS SLEAZE DEBACLE IS SHAMEFUL AND WRONG'

EXTRAORDINARY ATTACK BY JOHN MAJOR

- David Williamson and David Maddox

FORMER Prime Minister Sir John Major has accused Boris Johnson’s Government of “trashing the reputation of Parliament” over the Owen Paterson debacle.

In an extraordinary attack, Sir John said the Government’s actions were “shameful, wrong and unworthy” and suggested its treatment of the Commons was “perhaps politically corrupt”.

MPs are furious that on Wednesday they were ordered to vote for an amendment which blocked the Commons standards committee’s recommendation that Mr Paterson be suspended for 30 days for bringing the House into disrepute through his lobbying activities. It instead called for an overhaul of the watchdog.

The Government U-turned a day later in the wake of widespread outcry and Mr Paterson resigned as an MP.

Sir John said: “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.”

He told Radio 4’s Today programme: “There is a general whiff of ‘we are the masters now’ about their behaviour. I have been a Conservative all my life and if I am concerned at how the Government is behaving I suspect lots of other people are as well. It seems much of what they are doing is un-Conservative in its behaviour.”

He added: “The way the Government handled that was shameful, wrong and unworthy of this or indeed any government. It also had the effect of trashing the reputation of Parliament.”