John Major urges misconduct crackdown, warning of falling political standards
Sir John led the Conservative government between 1990 and 1997, which was mired in accusations of 'sleaze' following a series of parliamentary scandals.
In response, he set out the Nolan Principles, a code of conduct which all politicians and officials must abide by, and the Committee on Standards in Public Life to advise the prime minister on ethical standards.
A majority of those in public life still follow the principles, he said, but the minority who do not should face consequences.
'Too often, there are none,' Sir John said, speaking at the Institute for Government think tank's one-day conference to mark the 30th anniversary of the Nolan Principles.
Pointing to the Partygate scandal which rocked Boris Johnson's government, as well as scandals facing the police, the Church of England, and public services such as the Post Office, Sir John warned of slipping public standards, and insisted 'a re-set is essential'.
He added: '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 in our public life.
'The Committee on Standards in Public Life has reported that social and political trends have coarsened standards. That is true, but put too gently.
'Standards have been undermined by being ignored, by being broken, by public figures who put personal or political interest before public virtue.'
Many of the watchdogs put in place to prevent abuses of power are unable enforce their edicts, Sir John suggested.
'It has been our past practice to offer guidance on good conduct – and trust it will be delivered. That was the Nolan approach.
'But experience has taught us that no rules can deal with individuals prepared to ignore them and, sometimes, sanctions are required,' he said.
He welcomed moves to bolster oversight of ministers with an independent adviser on ministerial standards, and the parliamentary commissioner for standards to oversee MPs.
But Sir John said the Advisory Committee on Public Appointments (Acoba) stood in 'stark contrast'.
The watchdog, which gives politicians, their advisers and chief civil servants advice on whether or not jobs they take up after leaving public life are appropriate, should be 'put on a statutory basis, and given deterrent powers', he said.
He also called for a thinning of the number of special advisers who act on behalf of ministers, and warned that House of Lords appointments in recent years had not passed the 'smell test'.
'There should be no free pass to becoming a legislator,' Sir John said, saying the upper chamber should not contain legislators unable or unwilling to take part in scrutinising law changes.
The former prime minister also suggested reports American businessman Elon Musk had planned to give a multimillion-pound donation to Nigel Farage's Reform UK political party would have left it a 'wholly-owned subsidiary of foreign money', as he criticised the dangers of political donations.
'We need to refresh protections, and close off this pipeline before it becomes a serious political problem,' he added.
Sir John closed his speech by warning that Britain's 'widely envied reputation for being free of corruption and bad practice' was at risk.
He added: '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.'
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