As the New Year fireworks fade to a distant memory we can look forward to an election less than 6 months away and it will be interesting to see how the various political parties position themselves.
The Tories will follow the script that they have used for the past 4 years which is that Britain's economic troubles and the consequent 'Age of Austerity' was caused by the preceding Labour administration. They will say that Brussels is a huge threat to Britain's sovereignty and must be constrained. They will say that immigration needs to be curtailed. They will say that we must all work harder and for less in order to 'make Britain stronger'.
For their part, the Labour Party will seek to be reasonable and rational in the face of Tory claims. They will cosy up to big business and the CBI and suggest that Tory extremism is a threat to the economy and stability. They will promise not to rock the boat whilst, at the same time, seeking to achieve a fairer redistribution of wealth without increasing taxes on anyone with influence. They will also try to recast Ed Milliband as a dynamic and attractive leader.
The Scottish Nationalists will share the same objective as UKIP where both will be trying to achieve enough votes to give them leverage in the likely event of a hung parliament.
As for the LibDems, what can they do to save their deposits? Probably nothing.
And throughout the run-up to the election, everyone (Tory, Labour, LibDem, SNP, UKIP) will ignore the reality of the global financial crash - that it was the culture of capital that caused the crash and it is the culture of capital which continues to visit austerity on the many in order to benefit the few.
There is no co-operative balance between the interests of capital and the interests of wider society - society serves capital and the interests of capital and, until something is done to reset that imbalance, the age of austerity is likely to continue. None of the political parties have the balls to address that issue. Its far, far easier to blame immigrants.