Whatever the media says about the European election, the turnout was so low, that not one of the parties managed to win the support of even 10% of those entitled to vote! Nearly 2 out of 3 registered voters didn't see any useful way of casting their vote. This was the main feature of the election.

Of course, this election was meant to elect a European parliament which is even more remote than the British parliament and just as unaccountable. But, being the last national ballot before next year's general election, it could have been, at least, an opportunity for voters to express an opinion, by voting for one party rather than another, regardless of the purpose of this election.

But what choice was there for the working class majority of the electorate? Which party was expressing an outright rejection of the past six years of relentless attacks by the bosses and their politicians in government, under the cover of the crisis? Which party was proposing a perspective which might allow the working class to stop these attacks and start regaining the ground lost? None!

The 3 main parties did not, because they have all been responsible for some of these attacks while in office and only have more of the same on offer, due to their common servility to the City. And their smaller rivals are just revamped copies of the main parties, with nothing more to offer the working class.

Ukip's earth-quackery

But what should Ukip's so-called "earthquake" tell us? That 4.3 million voted for Ukip. And although this was only 9.4% of all registered voters, it did put Ukip into first place with 27.5% of the votes.

Some among these voters may have fallen for Ukip's claim that Britain's economic mess should be blamed on foreign workers and the EU. But many more probably thought that voting for Ukip would be a way of giving two fingers to the established parties, against their policies in the crisis, but also against their arrogance, and contempt for the electorate.

But Ukip's policy is just trickery. Whichever scapegoats it may brandish, it does so merely because they are easy targets for ambitious demagogues like Farage, who certainly do not want to rock the boat of the profit system.

Isn't it revealing that Ukip, just like the main parties, is always very careful not to point to the criminals who are responsible for the crisis, i.e., the capitalists, bankers, and shareholders, who should be forced to pay for the damage they have caused?

As to giving two fingers to the establishment, this couldn't be done by voting for a party standing for the very same social order and economic system. Has the public school-educated, former City stockbroker, Nigel Farage blamed his party's treasurer, Stuart Wheeler, for building his fortune out of speculation? During his 15 years as an MEP, did Farage refuse the EU allowances he denounced so vocally? Of course not!

For all their provocations and eccentricities, Farage and his lot are like all the politicians of the capitalist class - they just want their own share of the cake!

A warning and wake-up call

However, for all its political quackery, Ukip is a symptom of a trend which has been developing in society as a result of the crisis - and not just in Britain, but across the industrialised world.

Over the past years, governments have used the politics of blame to cover their (very large) diversion of public funds into the capitalists' coffers. Blaming the jobless, the poor, the disabled, etc., was what they did to justify massive welfare cuts. Just as the main parties - and not just Ukip - blamed foreign workers for the bosses' job slashing, wage cuts, and downgrading of working conditions imposed on workers - as if it wasn't the bosses who were responsible! Some union leaders even went along with that, calling for "British jobs for British workers"! Ukip may be just an offshoot of mainstream politics and its results in this election may not change much on the political scene. But they will reinforce social prejudices - racist, xenophobic and, generally, anti-working class prejudices. Like any party thriving on such demagogy, its apparent "respectability" conceals far more ominous currents, similar to the Greek Golden Dawn or the Hungarian Jobbick, which, given the chance, will turn to attacking migrant workers, but also striking workers.

Against this, there's only one response for the working class - the revival of its fighting traditions through organisations and struggles really aimed at defending its class interests - against the capitalists, their politicians and their demagogues. This revitalisation of the working class movement must involve opposing every attempt by our enemies to split our ranks, whether in the name of race, or nationality. There is only one working class and our main strength is to be united against our one enemy, the capitalist class, in all of its many political disguises!