The public has lost faith in Britain’s institutions, from the Church to Parliament – with the UK’s global reputation for integrity slowly being lost, former prime minister Sir John Major has warned. The Conservative leader from 1990-97 called for measures to “strengthen the safeguards around propriety” and reverse “a collapse in respect for politics and government” before it is too late.
Sir John called for tougher controls on the funding of political parties to stop them becoming “owned” by billionaires – a clear reference to reports US tycoon Elon Musk has considered funding Reform UK. The former PM said: “A few weeks ago, it was widely reported that an American multi-billionaire was about to fund a British political party. It didn’t happen ‒ nor should it: the party concerned would have been a wholly owned subsidiary of foreign money. We need to refresh protections, and close off this pipeline before it becomes a problem.”
He did not criticise anyone by name but highlighted a series of recent controversies, including many that appeared to involve former Tory prime minister Boris Johnson. He said: “The misconduct of a small minority has left trust in public life at too low a level: scandals in political funding; in the award of honours; in lobbying; in unsavoury behaviour; in bullying; in the saga of ‘Partygate’ – all tell us that a re-set is essential.”
He added: “In recent years – in addition to individual lapses – we have seen governments break or bend the law; ignore the conventions of good conduct; and shield their own colleagues from justified censure.”
As well as being accused of holding “parties” in No 10 during Covid, Mr Johnson tried to suspend or prorogue Parliament in 2019 before a court ruled it unlawful. He also infuriated Conservative colleagues by attempting to protect former Tory MP Owen Paterson, who had been accused of breaking Parliament’s lobbying rules.
However, Sir John said the problem went beyond politics. He said: “Today, scepticism does not fairly describe the public mood: a more accurate description would be a mixture of cynicism and disillusion that stretches across most of our public institutions ‒ the Church, Parliament, police, public service and press among them. That is not healthy.”
He was delivering a speech at the Institute for Government think tank to mark the 30th anniversary of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, a body he set up while in No 10 to enforce high ethical standards. It followed claims in the 1990s that some MPs had asked questions in Parliament in return for payments from lobbyists.
However, Sir John said that while the committee was doing a good job, governments over the years had ignored its findings.
People who broke the rules must be punished, he insisted.
Sir John said the UK had a “widely envied reputation for being free of corruption and bad practice”. But he warned: “I regret the slow erosion of that reputation – which we would once have thought indestructible. It is time for us to reverse this trend before the damage becomes beyond salvage.”