Johnson was forced to make a U-turn after he abandoned plans pushed through parliament to protect a lawmaker found to have broken lobbying rules.

Major, Britain's prime minister between 1990-1997, said his party had trashed the reputation of parliament and that he would face a dilemma over whether to vote for Johnson at the next election.

"I think the way the government handled that was shameful, wrong and unworthy of this, or indeed any government," Major said in a BBC interview.

"There's a general whiff of 'we are the masters now' about their behaviour," he said. "They also behaved badly in other ways that are perhaps politically corrupt."

A spokesperson for Johnson said paid lobbying was wrong and elected officials must abide by the rules.

The row has raised fresh questions about Johnson's ethics. He has faced other accusations of wrongdoing, including plans to have party donors secretly contribute to a luxury renovation of his Downing Street flat.

Johnson has said the government followed the rules over the refurbishment.

Britain could become a corrupt country- Poll

While some may already argue that Britain is already a corrupt country, a poll published by the Daily Mail on Saturday found 57% of voters said they agreed with a statement made by the prime minister's adviser on ethical standards this week that Britain could "slip into becoming a corrupt country".

Major, who campaigned to keep Britain in the European Union and who criticised Johnson over this handling of Brexit, said Johnson's behaviour could harm the party in the future.

"They have broken their word on many occasions," he said. "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."

Pot calling the kettle black?

Ironically, it is the Johnson government that has backed a controversial Commission of Inquiry into governance in the Virgin Islands during this COVID-19 pandemic.

The Johnson Government, through the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Governor’s Office have sought to paint the Virgin Islands as corrupt to justify the CoI and have collaborated with the UK press to promote its propaganda to the British people and the world.

One UK newspaper had even maliciously used a photo of Premier Andrew A. Fahie (R1) and his wife, Mrs Sheila E. Forbes-Fahie, in continued attempts to paint the territory as corrupt.

The photo in question appeared in the UK Times article of January 23, 2021, entitled “British Virgin Islands: cash and cartel trouble in paradise,” in which the Premier and his wife were edited in front of a photo of cocaine found in a $250M November 2020 drug bust.

PM Johnson is a confessed imperialist and buddy of ex-governor Augustus J. U. Jaspert, who called the CoI on the Virgin Islands, announcing it on Martin Luther King Day, January 18, 2021, mere days after he exited the Virgin Islands permanently.

Boris Johnson, left, is a confessed imperialist and buddy of ex-governor Augustus J. U. Jaspert, right, who called the CoI on the Virgin Islands, announcing it on Martin Luther King Day, January 18, 2021, mere days after he exited the Virgin Islands permanently.

The Johnson Government, through the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Governor’s Office have sought to paint the Virgin Islands as corrupt to justify the CoI and have collaborated with the UK press to promote its propaganda to the British people and the world.

One UK newspaper maliciously used a photo of Premier Andrew A. Fahie (R1) and his wife, Mrs Sheila E. Forbes-Fahie, in continued attempts to paint the territory as corrupt. The photo in question appeared in the UK Times article of January 23, 2021, with headline 'British Virgin Islands: cash and cartel trouble in paradise', in which the Premier and his wife were edited in front of a photo of cocaine found in a $250M November 2020 drug bust.