With the next general election only a year away, the main parties are beginning to fear that Ukip might disrupt the cosy political system which allows them to alternate in office in order to defend the interests of big business.

Not that this should concern the working class. Whatever their language, what the main parties and Ukip have in common is the desire to be loyal managers of City interests - against the working class - and to be rewarded with the largest share of the political cake.

In this respect, there is nothing to choose between these parties. The only real difference between them is that Ukip can sell itself as being "different" because, unlike the two others, it has never been in the position of having to get its hands dirty.

This is precisely what worries Labour and the Con-Dems main parties - Ukip's ability to appeal to the many voters who, since the beginning of the crisis, have become increasingly disgusted by them and the impact of their pro-business policies.

And this is why, following their poor performance in the European election, Cameron and Miliband immediately jumped on Ukip's bandwagon to embark on yet another spell of demagogic overbidding over the EU and immigration.

Demagogic promises

So, we heard both the Tories and Labour attacking EU migrants in the name of a very unusual "concern" on their part, for low-paid workers. They claim that the wages of the low-paid are being undercut by EU migrant workers who are, supposedly, willing to work on the cheap.

Cameron, for instance, promised that the fine imposed on bosses who pay their workers less than the minimum wage would be quadrupled, to £20,000 - which is still not very much, of course...

This is ironical, since his government has never provided enough inspectors to police bosses' adherence to the minimum wage, nor to prosecute transgressors - despite a (government!) estimate that hundreds of thousands of workers are paid below the minimum!

And it is even more ironical when, over the past years, the explosion of zero-hours contracts means that bosses can effectively avoid paying a full wage, minimum or otherwise, by switching their use of workers' labour on and off as they please!

As to Labour, wasn't it when they were in office that the minimum wage was set at such a low level that no-one can make a decent living on it without having to rely on benefits?

But never mind. Both the Tories and Labour are considering ways to reduce this dismal minimum even further. They propose to introduce different levels in different sectors and different regions. As if there aren't enough loopholes already, allowing bosses to undercut today's minimum, thus creating even more poverty among working class households!

A question of balance of forces

All these politicians - those of the main parties as well as those in Ukip - tell the same lie about EU migrants, blaming them for low wages. As if any worker chooses low pay!

Since the beginning of the crisis, bosses have been getting away with murder, by cutting wages to boost their profits. They've been helped by Labour and ConDem governments, both of which have systematically forced the unemployed into non-jobs under threat of losing their benefits. And the likes of Ukip would be only too pleased to do the same, given the chance.

Quite obviously, EU migrants aren't responsible for the explosion in casualisation, part-time work, zero-hours contracts, self-employment, and all the other forms of low-paid under-employment which have become a major feature of working class life. The only criminals in this field, as in so many others, are the bosses, their politicians and, more generally, the capitalists who control everything in this society.

But, precisely, there lies the real issue - control. Allowing the bosses and their politicians to control our jobs, our wages and, ultimately, our lives, is a recipe for disaster, as the present crisis shows.

But there is another option for the working class: to challenge the capitalists' "right" to mismanage society by way of their crisis-ridden profit system. And to take steps to impose our own collective control over the economy. To do so, we would need to mobilise all our forces and unite all workers, regardless of nationality or origin, behind this common objective. But that is something well worth fighting for.