"I remember once looking round the House of Commons during another Punch and Judy session of Prime Minister's Questions," he said (Clegg).

At the time he said youth unemployment had just reached its highest level ever, soldiers were fighting in Afghanistan and the economy was in the middle of "the worst recession in generations".

"And what were the politicians doing? Yelling and guffawing at each other as if the outside world didn't exist. So I don't blame anyone for feeling a sense of despair about our clapped-out political system."