The former prime minister warned a panel that democracy was “not inevitable” and could be undone “step by step, action by action, lie by lie”. “It needs to be protected at all times, and it seems to me that if our law and our accepted conventions are ignored, then we’re on a very slippery slope that ends up shredding our constitution,” said Major, who said democracy it is ‘in decline’ elsewhere in the world and should not be taken for granted in the UK. He added: “What has been done over the last three years has damaged our country at home and abroad and I think it has damaged the reputation of parliament as well. “Responsibility for these mistakes must lie mainly, but not only, with the prime minister. But many in the cabinet are also guilty, as are those outside the cabinet who cheered him on.” In remarks likely to be seen as sharp criticism of senior Tories, including some of the current candidates in his party’s leadership race, he added: “They were silent when they needed to speak and only spoke when their silence became self-defeating. .” Earlier, he said “the whole country” knew the government had broken the law in what he described as a “litany” of ways: illegally trying to suspend parliament, ignoring a national lockdown, breaking its own laws in Downing Street and trying to change laws to “protect one of their own”. This was not an exclusive list, he added. Major was appearing before the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee (PACAC), which was taking evidence on good governance. At the same appearance, the former prime minister said the Cabinet’s claim that it was “shocked” by the Sue Gray report was “pushing the tire too far”. At an earlier PACAC meeting, Simon Case had said he was “shocked” to read Gray’s report on the Partygate scandal. Asked Tuesday if that was credible, Major said: “I think it’s pushing the rubber a lot.” He added: “It’s quite difficult to accept that there was as much going on in lockdown as the Sue Gray report showed, with people completely unaware that it was happening.” Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST The former prime minister said such ignorance would constitute “a remarkable indifference to his working environment”. He also told PACAC that the government should show MPs “unexplained” advice from the attorney-general about the legality of the Northern Ireland protocol bill. Asked how parliament should deal with the bill, he said: “Parliament will have to see, inexplicably, legal advice as to whether or not it breaks the law domestically or internationally, and if it doesn’t, then it’s a matter for the parliament. “If it violates the law, then it is a bill that should not be brought before parliament.”