No sooner had the lights of the election circus been switched off, than politicians embarked on another circus - behind closed doors, this time.
As we go to press, 4 days have passed since election night. Tory and Lib Dem leaders kicked off the horse-trading in an attempt to form a ruling coalition. Then the Lib Dems played out a similar act with Labour before going back to the Tories.
But what is this horse-trading really about? Is it about the Lib Dems' demand for proportional representation? Hardly. The Tories will not give up an electoral system which has served them so well for so many decades, by providing them (and Labour) with a monopoly position in the Commons. And Cameron's offer of the "AV" voting system is only one degree removed from the present "first-past-the post" system and would still give the big parties a monopoly of seats.
No, if this horse-trading is about anything, it is not about policies - otherwise, why would it be so secretive? It is really about sharing out posts, to satisfy the appetite for power of the two parties' grandees. And it is about finding a way of packaging the deal, which can put the lid on the acrimonious protests of their backbenchers.
The axe is hot in their hands
As to the issues that really matter - like the handling of the crisis, the funding of public services, the future of public sector workers, pensions, etc., there is no real difference between the two would-be partners in crime, nor would there be any, if instead, the Lib Dems were to jump into bed with Labour.
All three parties are bent on keeping the "markets" happy - that is, bankers, shareholders, speculators. All three have axes in their hands, ready to go into action against public services and the standard of living of the working class, in order to make us pay even more for the crisis of their capitalist masters. Although they all stopped short of detailing what their plans were during the election campaign, they made no secret of the nature of their intentions in this respect.
In this election, the working class could not vote for candidates which represented its interests against the wealthy. It could not express its anger against the attacks on jobs and wages carried out by Labour and its capitalist friends. It could not make its voice heard in this election.
But the working class has other means to make itself heard. Whoever is in Downing Street, it is the labour of the working class which remains the only source of wealth in this society and it is the working class which makes up the majority of the population. Against its collective strength, the tiny layer of parasitic profiteers who caused the crisis and is now hoping to bleed workers dry in order to boost profits, would be impotent.
Yes, workers will be able to have a say in the months to come and to stop the politicians' axe, if they choose to. This will require a general counter-offensive against the capitalists and their politicians, a fight back capable of uniting all sections of workers behind common objectives, designed to make the shareholders pay for their crisis.
Get rid of this bankrupt system!
But it is not just the politicians' attacks that the working class will need to deal with.
The social catastrophe threatening Greece today, and maybe tomorrow, other euro-zone countries, is a foretaste of what the system has in store.
Contrary to the nationalist nonsense peddled here by the media, Greece's near-bankruptcy is neither due to "profligacy" nor to the euro's "congenital faults" - but to the same crisis against which the pound has been impotent.
How can we forget that, despite our "wonderful" pound, the economy began to slump here, before it did in most of Europe? Or that the recession came earlier and was deeper here than in most rich countries? In fact, it takes only the sight of politicians' fear of "market reactions" to today's "hung" parliament, to measure how much policies are dictated by the ups and downs of a crisis-ridden market in which greed "rules the waves".
The speculation which brought Greece to its knees could be repeated here - in fact, it is even more likely to happen here, given the colossal black hole that the banks have created in public funds. The pound may be "independent", but it is a hostage of market forces for which it is just a pawn in their crazy gambling. And at the receiving end of this gambling, is the working class.
So, it is not just the attacks of the politicians and bosses that the working class has to prepare to fight, but the profit system itself - a bankrupt system which is far too dangerous for society, for it to be allowed to survive and shape (or rather, destroy) our lives!