The Telegraph masterminded the fiasco over Members of Parliament (MPs) outrageous personal expenses billed to the government. It could have launched this broadside over a year ago but chose now. Its owners support the far right United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and so it is clear that this is intended to damage all mainstream parties. This seems to have worked as the Labour vote sank to 15.3 percent, their historical lowest in modern times.

The Tories (Conservatives) were relatively successful in terms of their vote holding up in the face of the advance by UKIP.

The battle taking place at the top of New Labour is largely personal as there are no political differences between the various factions, all of them are wedded to the capitalist system. Some of course are seeking to save their political careers and they believe that cuddling up closer to big business is their best bet. In fact the best they can hope for is damage limitation, in other words limiting the severity of the slaughter they face at the next General Election. However, it is still possible that they will tear the Party apart.

But quite where this leaves the British political situation is frankly beyond comprehension.

The extreme right wing British National Party (BNP) won two seats in the European Parliament and the United Kingdom Independence Party got 13 seats.

This is frankly appalling but it is not a complete disaster totally and utterly.

There is a risk at the next general election for UK Parliament that the UKIP and the BNP may win some seats but it is more about the damage they do to the Labour vote, in truth. The other decisive factor is the huge abstention level of between 50 and 60 percent. This is a politically dangerous level and shows the degree of disaffection and dislocation with mainstream politics and politicians. Another factor could be the emergence of “celebrity” candidates running on a “clean up the mess” type of agenda. This is yet another disguise for right wing figures adding yet more disarray.

The No2EU slate (short for No to the European Union-Yes to Democracy), had small success according to incoming reports:

East Midlands: 11,375 votes or 0.97 percent

Eastern region: 13,939 votes or 0.87 percent

London: 17,758 votes or 1.01 percent

North East: 8,066 votes or 1.37 percent

Wales: 8,600 votes or 1.26 percent

Yorkshire & Humber: 15,614 votes or 1.27 percent

There are the following regions still to have details, but they are:

South West

South East

West Midlands

North West

But the picture is expected to be replicated across these areas. The UKIP and BNP are averaging the same type of results as follows:

UKIP between 17 percent and 20 percent

BNP between 5 percent and 10 percent

The crisis of the Labour Government and Party is more palpable than ever.

Many workers hate Labour but see only the rightist fringe parties as an “alternative.” The Tory heartland voters who fell behind the Blairite project are deserting in droves. Nothing is solid anymore as the Guardian has said in its recent editorial.

We face a political crisis: the economic crash is the backdrop, workers being made to suffer by a government that comes from their ranks and the corruption of the entire political class or elite. These factors only converge very infrequently. It wouldn't be fair to say we are in a pre-revolutionary situation, but definitely an unstable one, to say the least.

So what happens now? It is hard to say at this point.

But the main thing is this: the Labour Party remains despite all the above a terrain for the competing class forces to clash in. It is an arena where the bourgeois leadership around both Brown and the Blairites will continue to clash with the somewhat dwindling forces of the working class. In that respect those who still support, or at least defend the Labour Party as an arena of engagement have an even more important role and responsibility lying on their shoulders today than this time a week ago.