Former PMs John Major and Gordon Brown unite in criticism of latest Tory chaos

11 March 2024 , 17:28

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Ex-Labour PM Gordon Brown said it was a 'sign of the times' that he and ex-Tory PM Sir John Major were 'more on the same side than opposite' (Image: Getty Images)

Sir John Major has criticised Tory MPs trying to oust Rishi Sunak and install the fourth PM since the election.

The former Prime Minister, who led the Conservatives between 1990 and 1997, hit out at the “malcontents” leading the infighting. Speaking alongside Gordon Brown at an event organised by the Institute for Government, he took aim at Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda policy and at Liz Truss's controversial dismissal of senior civil servant Sir Tom Scholar.

"Let me be clear about this: Three prime ministers in one Parliament, with a few malcontents seeking a fourth, does not help the perception of the centre of government,” he said. "Nor does a Supreme Court ruling that the Government has broken the law.

"Nor is it a good optic when ministers indulge in public arguments…Or when they sack senior civil servants who offer candid advice, which simply did not suit the Government's thinking. None of that conduct is conducive to high morale or good government."

Former Labour PM Mr Brown also warned “we cannot govern in the way we have been” as he said we were facing a “make or break decade for our economy”. "The regional economic inequalities in our country are now so serious that they demand urgent action,” he said.

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“And of course as a result of that, standards of living for people in this country are continuing to fall. There has got to be a turnaround strategy… We need to think with almost military precision about how we can put our economy on a war footing so that we are in a position to solve the problems I've just identified."

He joked that it was a “sign of the times that [he and Sir John] find ourselves more on the same side than opposite sides” as the two ex-PMs both called for a reset on how power is delegated in central government.

The pair were also united in criticising Labour’s idea to form a new four-person executive cabinet. Mr Brown said the idea "may need some further work".

"The suggestion is an inner cabinet of four, which I think John and I would both be quite shocked and surprised if that could ever work," he said. A "quadrumvirate" would be "very difficult" and has an "inauspicious" past, he said, pointing to King Herod and the Gang of Four in Communist China as examples.

Sophie Huskisson