THERE’S an old Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” Well, we are living in interesting times, and the times are going to get even more interesting over the next 12 months.

The political scene is surely more volatile and unpredictable than it has been since 1974, when there was the oil crisis, a miners’ strike, the three day week which Ted Heath imposed on the country, two general elections and rumours that prominent disaffected people were raising a private army. We shall have to go some way to beat that lot, but you never know; and the old twister Harold Wilson himself did say: “A week is a long time in politics.”

The fun will start in a few weeks’ time with the local and then the European elections.

I think the only unpredictable aspect of these two events is the extent of David Cameron’s humiliation. The Tories are in for a thumping and many people will say serves ’em right too.

All the opinion polls show that most people supported, or at least were indifferent about, the same sex marriage Act. But there is a sizeable remnant of dyed-in-the-wool Tories who are fuming about it and many of them have declared they will never vote for the party again.

That’s not Dave’s only problem. There is Ukip and the laddish Nigel Farage, freshfaced and beaming after his trashing of young Nick Clegg in the TV debate. Disaffected Tories will turn to Ukip, no doubt. The only question is how many of them?

But his own supporters are not Dave’s only problem. Those opinion polls again – they all show that disillusioned members of the white working class are turning to Ukip in droves. Why? Not least because traditional working class folk – I am not talking about the underclass – are as morally conservative as Tories from the shires; and many of them don’t like gay marriage either.

Also, it’s these hard-working people who have had the worst of it during the five years of recession. They will take their revenge.

So things don’t look too good for Dave and his posh cronies. But what about the other lot? How will Labour fare?

Normally, we should expect them to profit out of the Tories’ discomfiture, but this time I have my doubts. Certainly people are angry about “the cuts” and fed up with having to cut their cloth, make do and mend.

But those polls again: unfortunately for Ed Miliband, they show that a lot of people don’t trust Labour on the economy. Yes, a week is a long time in politics, but people do have long memories as well – and we remember the colossal mess made by Gordon Brown both as chancellor and then as prime minister.

I don’t like to get personal, but modern politics is three-quarters showbiz and personality.

And there is a suspicion that Ed is – as someone said to me the other day – “just too weird”.

And there is another ticklish problem for him which borders on the unmentionable: except that it has been mentioned already, and even by political commentators at the BBC.

There are more than a few Muslims in the electorate. Will devout Muslims vote for a secular atheist Jew who also is strongly in favour of gay marriage?

So far, I’ve failed to mention the Scottish referendum. Can I leave you with a question?

This is about whether the union between England and Scotland will be abolished.

But in every divorce case, both sides have a say. So why don’t we English have a vote in the Scottish independence referendum too?