The way cabinet ministers dealt with allegations of lockdown-breaching gatherings in Downing Street has “made the government look distinctly shifty,” former Prime Minister Sir John Major said on Thursday in a blistering speech. Major said Prime Minister Boris Johnson and government officials have broken the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus regulations and lambasted the ministers for coming up with “Brazen” and “unbelievable excuses. “At No 10, the prime minister and officials broke lockdown laws,” Major said in a speech at London think tank the Institute for Government. “Brazen excuses were dreamed up. Day after day the public was asked to believe the unbelievable. Ministers were sent out to defend the indefensible—making themselves look gullible or foolish,” he added. “Collectively, this has made the government look distinctly shifty, which has consequences that go far beyond political unpopularity. No government can function properly if its every word is treated with suspicion.” Major, a longstanding critic …