Despite the Tories still tanking behind Labour in the polls, the PM’s lack of answers is a morale boost for the opposition

With little more than a week to go until the Christmas recess, the Commons is already in festive overdrive. Demob happy. A few minutes in to the year’s penultimate prime minister’s questions with MPs from both sides shouting and cheering, the speaker interrupted proceedings to say, “we don’t need the panto auditions any more”. To which the natural response was, ‘oh yes we do’. Because that’s pretty much the whole purpose of PMQs at the best of times. A feelgood experience for some. A feelbad experience for others. Noise with no substance.

No one embraces the panto spirit more than Kemi Badenoch. Kemi has come to realise that the bar is actually quite low for her to remain as Tory leader. All she has to do is be a little bit better than Keir Starmer at PMQs. Which is turning out to be a lot less difficult than she imagined. Sometimes just standing up is enough.

Despite the Tories still tanking behind Labour in the polls, the PM’s lack of answers is a morale boost for the opposition

With little more than a week to go until the Christmas recess, the Commons is already in festive overdrive. Demob happy. A few minutes in to the year’s penultimate prime minister’s questions with MPs from both sides shouting and cheering, the speaker interrupted proceedings to say, “we don’t need the panto auditions any more”. To which the natural response was, ‘oh yes we do’. Because that’s pretty much the whole purpose of PMQs at the best of times. A feelgood experience for some. A feelbad experience for others. Noise with no substance.

No one embraces the panto spirit more than Kemi Badenoch. Kemi has come to realise that the bar is actually quite low for her to remain as Tory leader. All she has to do is be a little bit better than Keir Starmer at PMQs. Which is turning out to be a lot less difficult than she imagined. Sometimes just standing up is enough.

Despite the Tories still tanking behind Labour in the polls, the PM’s lack of answers is a morale boost for the opposition

With little more than a week to go until the Christmas recess, the Commons is already in festive overdrive. Demob happy. A few minutes in to the year’s penultimate prime minister’s questions with MPs from both sides shouting and cheering, the speaker interrupted proceedings to say, “we don’t need the panto auditions any more”. To which the natural response was, ‘oh yes we do’. Because that’s pretty much the whole purpose of PMQs at the best of times. A feelgood experience for some. A feelbad experience for others. Noise with no substance.

No one embraces the panto spirit more than Kemi Badenoch. Kemi has come to realise that the bar is actually quite low for her to remain as Tory leader. All she has to do is be a little bit better than Keir Starmer at PMQs. Which is turning out to be a lot less difficult than she imagined. Sometimes just standing up is enough.

Former deputy prime minister, who left Meta this year, to be joined by Facebook-owner’s chief AI scientist

Nick Clegg is to add venture capitalist to his list of post-politics jobs, with the former British deputy prime minister and ex-senior executive at Meta taking on a new role at London-based Hiro Capital.

Clegg, who left his role as the Facebook-owner’s head of global affairs this year , is joining the European tech investment firm as a general partner.

Former deputy prime minister, who left Meta this year, to be joined by Facebook-owner’s chief AI scientist

Nick Clegg is to add venture capitalist to his list of post-politics jobs, with the former British deputy prime minister and ex-senior executive at Meta taking on a new role at London-based Hiro Capital.

Clegg, who left his role as the Facebook-owner’s head of global affairs this year , is joining the European tech investment firm as a general partner.

Former deputy prime minister, who left Meta this year, to be joined by Facebook-owner’s chief AI scientist

Nick Clegg is to add venture capitalist to his list of post-politics jobs, with the former British deputy prime minister and ex-senior executive at Meta taking on a new role at London-based Hiro Capital.

Clegg, who left his role as the Facebook-owner’s head of global affairs this year , is joining the European tech investment firm as a general partner.

We need people from Europe to move to the UK – but also a way to give Brits the opportunity to build the futures they crave

Announcing her new Youth Matters plan – £500m to “boost resilience and teach skills” – the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, spoke of a “ violent indifference ” from the political establishment towards young people that had been going on “for decades”. She’s not wrong. We can look at all of the ways in which young people have seen their economic prospects and work opportunities systematically destroyed – and see that they all date from 2010.

First, the tripling of the tuition fee cap saddled them with debts that have become astronomical, particularly for degrees that are socially beneficial, such as medicine and nursing; this, incidentally, from a coalition in which one party explicitly promised never to do that. Yet for all its boldness in setting fire to manifesto promises and playing fast and loose with a generation’s future, the tuition fees policy didn’t actually deliver a sustainable funding plan for tertiary education – instead leaving it to cross-subsidise with foreign students, whom the political establishment has spent the past five years trying to chase out of the country .

Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here .

We need people from Europe to move to the UK – but also a way to give Brits the opportunity to build the futures they crave

Announcing her new Youth Matters plan – £500m to “boost resilience and teach skills” – the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, spoke of a “ violent indifference ” from the political establishment towards young people that had been going on “for decades”. She’s not wrong. We can look at all of the ways in which young people have seen their economic prospects and work opportunities systematically destroyed – and see that they all date from 2010.

First, the tripling of the tuition fee cap saddled them with debts that have become astronomical, particularly for degrees that are socially beneficial, such as medicine and nursing; this, incidentally, from a coalition in which one party explicitly promised never to do that. Yet for all its boldness in setting fire to manifesto promises and playing fast and loose with a generation’s future, the tuition fees policy didn’t actually deliver a sustainable funding plan for tertiary education – instead leaving it to cross-subsidise with foreign students, whom the political establishment has spent the past five years trying to chase out of the country .

Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here .

We need people from Europe to move to the UK – but also a way to give Brits the opportunity to build the futures they crave

Announcing her new Youth Matters plan – £500m to “boost resilience and teach skills” – the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, spoke of a “ violent indifference ” from the political establishment towards young people that had been going on “for decades”. She’s not wrong. We can look at all of the ways in which young people have seen their economic prospects and work opportunities systematically destroyed – and see that they all date from 2010.

First, the tripling of the tuition fee cap saddled them with debts that have become astronomical, particularly for degrees that are socially beneficial, such as medicine and nursing; this, incidentally, from a coalition in which one party explicitly promised never to do that. Yet for all its boldness in setting fire to manifesto promises and playing fast and loose with a generation’s future, the tuition fees policy didn’t actually deliver a sustainable funding plan for tertiary education – instead leaving it to cross-subsidise with foreign students, whom the political establishment has spent the past five years trying to chase out of the country .

Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here .