The question every MP at PMQs today should ask themselves

It's called Prime Minister's Questions. The idea is that questions are asked of the Prime Minister. The idea is that he answers those questions.

Somewhere along the line, those notions have got lost and have been replaced by political grandstanding and the worst possible inside-the-bubble sort of naval gazing, performed by people whose behaviour would probably have them arrested for breach of the peace outside of confines of the Palace of Westminster.

Elections won't be won or lost based on performances in Prime Minister's Questions. If they were, then William Hague would have done a lot better in the polls.

But PMQs is perhaps the most well watched window on parliament that we have. Televised every week live and broadcast on the radio, it also features heavily on the Wednesday night news bulletins. Millions see it. Are they impressed by what they see? No, of course not.

Political commentators analyse every answer and pick their winner from each week's political joust. But does anyone ever stop to ask what the public at large, the passing observers who are interested in how the country is run but not the political battles, think?

We don't see an intelligent series of questions posed by politicians which the prime minister answers. Instead, we see silly sop questions from the Labour backbenches teed up for Gordon Brown before David Cameron piles in with questions designed to trip the PM up. Questions which the PM refuses to answer.

As things get more heated, the crowds behind behave in a way which wouldn't be accepted on the football terraces. Shouting, jeering, cheering, heckling - these people are earning £65,000 a year minimum to help run the country and to represent our interests.

Is it any wonder there is such an apathy towards politicians?

If David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg are serious about reforming politics, here are a few suggestions:

Gordon Brown: You are the Prime Minister. So answer Questions. It's not called Prime Minister Tells Us Why Not To Vote Tory. If David Cameron asks you if you'll back a call for Unite members to cross a picket line, just say yes or no. Don't go on the attack about what the Tories are getting wrong about the BA dispute - they aren't in power, you are. Answer the question and move on. People will respect you more for it.

David Cameron: You have six questions a week to quiz the most powerful man in the UK. Don't just try and trick him over one issue you think will get a headline. Sure, everyone is interested in BA, but it's not the only issue in town. Interest rates, petrol prices, unemployment, the NHS, education, transport, high speed rail, the environment, Afghanistan - there's so much you need to hold the PM to account about. If he ducks a question, don't push it again and again, just make the point that you note he'd dodged the question again and move on to the next issue. That's the way to get people to believe you have their interests at heart - talk about them, don't just pick the issue on the front page of the Daily Mail. And don't wave goodbye at the prime minister while he's talking. Show some respect, for him, for yourself, and for those who you seek to run the country on behalf of.

Nick Clegg: You are the leader of the third largest party. You too, are guaranteed questions each week. It is not Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition are Rubbish, go for the Third Way Question Time. Don't aim arrows at David Cameron, but instead ask sensible questions of Gordon Brown. You get this right some weeks, but stop posturing. You'll get to pick who carries on as PM soon enough (hint: It won't be you).

Mr Speaker: For God's sake, get a grip. This is not The Speaker Show. We don't need a witty comment from you to silence the baying mob, we just need you tell people to be quiet and threaten to deny the noisiest party the right to questions. We need you to tell the PM to answer the question, and to tell the leader of the opposition to ask different questions. We also need you to shake up the way questions are allocated. Chris Mullin, in his backbench memoirs, lifts the lid on how MPs find 'their number has come up to ask a question' but then have to come up with a question - hence rubbish about 'no more red tape for businesses' from Nicholas Winterton. Make them submit questions and pick them at random.

Labour backbenchers: Don't ask silly sop questions of the Prime Minister. Nobody outside thinks any better of you for it. We just think you want a minister's job. If you're going to ask a question, make it a worthwhile one, which is about an issue the prime minister might actually have an opinion on. He will not care, or know about, the recent success of the Middle Narnia Scouts.

All backbenchers: Just ask yourselves, would you want your children to see you behaving like that? Would you want to see your children behaving like that, shrieking, screaming, screeching baying mobs. If you were on a street corner, you'd be slapped with an ASBO. You are there to quiz the Prime Minister. Show him some respect and show the rest of us some respect by allowing as many questions to be answered as possible. By all means show disquiet at an answer, but do it in a well behaved way. Would you vote for someone who behaved like that? Would you, as a constituent worrying about the economy, jobs, schooling, spiralling petrol costs and so on be impressed to see your MP behaving as though there were in some grown up playground?

And one final question for the lot of you: Watch Prime Minister's Questions again. Ignore the normal political chattery about who dealt the knockout blow, who performed well and so on and just ask: Is that really the way to behave when involved in the running of Government?