A former Eton master has lashed out at Boris Johnson and other senior Tories who attended the elite private school – saying they had damaged the “very fabric” of the country.
John Claughton said he had “failed” to educate former pupils such as the former PM, former Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg and ex-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng properly.
The ex-master, at Eton from 1984 to 2001, said in a letter to The Times the school had not done its job in trying to remove the sense of “privilege, entitlement and omniscience” from its star Tory alumni.
“Perhaps its most important mission will be to ensure that its pupils are saved from the sense of privilege, entitlement and omniscience that can produce alumni such as Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Kwasi Kwarteng and Ben Elliot and thereby damage a country’s very fabric.”
He added: “Sadly, I failed in that purpose.”
The criticism comes as Mr Johnson urged MPs on the privileges committee to publish its report on whether he lied to parliament and “let the world judge their nonsense”.
In a statement on Tuesday, the former prime minister lashed out at the panel’s “absurdly unfair rules”, which he said prevented him from criticising its findings, and vowed to make his “views clear” when they are released.
It came after the committee said Mr Johnson had made last-minute representations ahead of the release of its report, which is expected to find that he deliberately misled MPs with his assurances that lockdown rules were followed in No 10.
A source close to Mr Johnson told The Times he believes the committee has “no evidential basis” for its criticism. They said the rebuttal put forward by the former PM and his lawyers will deal with the matters raised in the report “in a very thorough manner”.
Rishi Sunak will likely be challenged over Tory infighting in his weekly clash with Sir Keir Starmer, following his public spat with Mr Johnson over his predecessor’s resignation honours list.
The PM will also move closer to two difficult by-elections, in the seats vacated by Mr Johnson and Nigel Adams, when the Conservatives give notice for the contests on Wednesday.
But Nadine Dorries has delayed formally resigning as MP which threatens to prolong the agony for Rishi Sunak. Ms Dorries is reportedly keen to “scupper” No 10’s plans to hold three by-elections on the same day.
A Tory source told The Independent: “We don’t know why Nadine hasn’t resigned … But we don’t want to wait around, we want to get on with these things.”
Meanwhile, the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO) – a grassroots group of Mr Johnson’s staunchest supporters – warned the party’s MPs not to endorse the privileges committee’s findings.
Former Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman, chairman of the CDO, told The Independent: “We would hope Conservative MPs will not endorse that behaviour and will support due process and the rule of law by voting against. The public will be watching.”
Although Mr Johnson will avoid suspension after quitting, committee chair Harriet Harman is thought to have made clear to government that the cross-party group wants a Commons vote on the report.
A government source told The Guardian that a motion could be worded to merely “note” the committee’s report rather than accept or approve it – in the hope more neutral language could avoid any embarrassing rebellion by some sympathetic to Mr Johnson.
Responding to the idea, Labour MP Chris Bryant tweeted: “I can guarantee they won’t get away with this.”
