POST-SCAMDEMIC HIGH

Socialism all too often spells economic disaster and the policies of Rachel Reeves are taking Britain down a gloomy fiscal path.  It's no great surprise that our economic outlook is grim, with the woman in charge light on qualifications, business acumen and her inspiration stemming from the likes of Ellen Wilkinson, whose portrait hangs in Number Eleven.  Wilkinson was a a founder member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, who later went on to serve as education minister in the Labour government of Atlee.

We already know that the outlook for 2026 has been downgraded, with many factors at play - including rising inflation, higher interest rates, a rising tax burden, high street franchises continuing to struggle, a lack of inward investment and an exodus of business from the country.  Some of these could be tackled by Reeves with decisive measures, but with a Budget still weeks away we are being dealt a series of scaremongering rumours and/or leaks on a daily basis.  If every news headline is to be believed, there is no business sector or demographic that is safe from further tax rises.  The likelihood is that such speculation stems from a series of leaks designed to encourage a sigh of relief when the Budget actually does drop.  'Ahh, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be', is perhaps the kind of reaction hoped for.

It may also be to some extent a sounding out exercise, to see which proposals face a lesser backlash.  The problem is that the constant speculation drives economic uncertainty and the threat of further tax rises does nothing to halt the exodus of firms leaving the UK.  And if firms continue to leave and high street franchises continue to go bump, unemployment will rise...

Unemployment has either risen or stabilised since Labour came into office last year.  It has yet to make a downward turn and this year it has risen sharply twice, resulting in the most recent figure of five per cent.  This presents the highest unemployment rate since February 2021, when the scamdemic was almost one year in.  It doesn't look good and if the figure rises again in the next quarter it may well draw level or even best the worst of the scamdemic.

Well done Labour voters!

MEME MONDAY #60

Due to Karl's continuing absence, this is the shortest Meme Monday yet.  Last week's meme output was a mixture of work he created prior to his departure and some old memes republished for their topical value.  Normal service is not likely to return until next week at the earliest, with no Toon Tuesday or Woke Wednesday again this week.

Thu 6 Nov - 79 shares

Fri 7 Nov - 163 shares

Sat 8 Nov - 131 shares

Sun 9 Nov - 328 shares

Sun 9 Nov - 15 shares

If you appreciate Karl's work through the years, you can show it by buying him a metaphorical pint here.  This helps fund our work and serves as a vital morale booster.

BOATWATCH #35

The flat zero that preceded last week has been obliterated in spectacular fashion.  The lull continued until Thursday when a flurry of nine boats arrived, followed by another nine the following day and seven on Saturday.  This generated a massive autumnal collection by our migrant taxi services, albeit not enough to swing momentum back towards an all time annual record.  That record looks set to remain firmly with the Boriswave year of 2022...

Total = 1,772 (an increase of 1,772 from last week)

COUNCIL BY-ELECTIONS 06.11.25

Eight seats were contested on Thursday, including two notional defences for Labour that they were destined to lose.  Both of these seats had been won by the outgoing councillor, having finished second and picking up a seat by way of multi-vacancy elections.

In Scotland, this was achieved by Cllr David Graham, trailing in behind the SNP.  Graham was thrown out of office earlier this year when he was convicted and jailed for grooming and sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl.  The 43-year-old is now serving a sentence of two years and five months.  As expected, the SNP took the seat this time around, with Labour being pushed into third by Reform UK.

You'd be mistaken for thinking that Labour may have stood a better chance of holding in Derbyshire, where they previously trailed behind an independent.  Not so.  This had been a Tory seat up until 2021, but independents topped the last two polls.  We expected this to go either independent or Reform this time around, but it was no contest as the independent candidate romped home with more than twice the Reform vote.  Labour crashed into fourth place, behind the Conservatives.

Labour's vote share was down in all of the seats it contested on Thursday, and down by double digits in all but one.

It was another good week for Reform and the Lib Dems.  Reform either topped the polls or came second in all the seats it contested, gaining two from independents and one from the Conservatives.  The Lib Dems managed to gain two seats, one each from the Conservatives and Greens.  The latter could not even muster a candidate to defend their seat, making yet more mockery of the supposed 'Green surge' hyped up by the media.  The best the Greens could achieve this week was a third place finish in Nottinghamshire, in which only four candidates stood.

Buckhaven, Methil & Wemyss Villages, Fife Council

(first preference votes)

SNP: 1,594 (42.6%) -4.8%

Ref: 1,080 (28.9%) New

Lab: 778 (20.8) -11.4%

LDm: 99 (2.6%) +0.3%

Alb: 83 (2.2%) +0.9%

Con: 64 (1.7%) -4.8%

Sov: 45 (1.2%) New

SNP GAIN from Lab (elected stage 6)

Fleckney, Harborough District Council

Ref: 551 (35.0%) New

LDm: 453 (28.7%) +2.1%

Con: 416 (26.4%) -6.0%

Grn: 102 (6.5%) -6.2%

Lab: 54 (3.4%) -11.6%

Ref GAIN from Con

Balderton North & Coddington, Newark and Sherwood District Council

Ref: 545 (42.0%) New

Con: 480 (37.0%) +5.0%

Grn: 173 (13.3%) New

Lab: 101 (7.8%) -8.6%

Ref GAIN from Ind

Castle, Newark and Sherwood District Council

Ref: 204 (29.0%) New

Con: 193 (27.4%) -4.0%

Lab: 88 (12.5%) -21.3%

Ind: 74 (10.5%) New

LDm: 70 (9.9%) New

Grn: 61 (8.7%) New

Ind: 14 (2.0%) New

Ref GAIN from Ind

Seales, South Derbyshire District Council

Ind: 713 (55.7%) New

Ref: 309 (24.1%) New

Con: 105 (8.2%) -14.1%

Lab: 82 (6.4%) -20.0%

LDm: 72 (5.6%) New

Ind GAIN from Lab

Westway, Tandridge District Council

LDm: 539 (42.3%) -0.6%

Ref: 420 (33.0%) New

Con: 202 (15.9%) -13.3%

Lab: 112 (8.8%) -19.1%

LDm GAIN from Con

Lingfield,  Crowhurst & Tandridge, Tandridge District Council

Ind: 457 (38.0%) +3.2%

Ref: 329 (27.3%) New

Ind: 158 (13.1%) New

Con: 128 (10.6%) -1.3%

LDm: 90 (7.5%) -1.4%

Lab: 42 (3.5%) -13.4%

Ind HOLD

Okehampton South, West Devon Borough Council

LDm: 356 (57.1%) New

Con: 152 (24.4%) -5.9%

Ind: 116 (18.6%) New

LDm GAIN from Grn

A further two by-elections were contested earlier in the week, taking place on the somewhat unorthodox day of Tuesday.  These were both Labour defences in Burnley, Lancashire.  The party lost both seats to independents and were pushed into distant third places by Reform in both seats.

Queensgate, Burnley Borough Council

Ind: 679 (55.7%) New

Ref: 240 (19.7%) New

Lab: 133 (10.9%) -9.1%

Grn: 71 (5.8%) New

Ind: 52 (4.3%) New

Con: 43 (3.5%) -7.2%

Ind GAIN from Lab

Lanehead, Burnley Borough Council

Ind: 706 (44.4%) New

Ref: 510 (32.1%) New

Lab: 262 (16.5%) -25.9%

Con: 61 (3.8%) -11.6%

Grn: 50 (3.1%) New

Ind GAIN from Lab

Abbreviations

SNP = Scottish National Party

Ref = Reform UK

Lab = Labour

LDm = Liberal Democrat

Alb = Alba

Con = Conservative

Sov = Sovereignty

Grn = Green

Ind = Independents and local residents' groups

UNPLANNED DISRUPTION

We regret to inform everyone that due to a family bereavement, Karl will not be contributing to BTLP for the coming days, possibly longer.  He is currently away from home dealing with the usual arrangements that accompany loss.

There will be no Toon Tuesday or Woke Wednesday this week, but the by-election round up will continue as per usual.  There is plenty of content that Karl completed prior to his enforced absence and this will be shared sparingly to the Facebook pages.  Richey will continue to post to X.

We thank you all for your thoughts and prayers that have been sent following the initial announcement posted to Facebook on Monday night.

MEME MONDAY #59

Karl produced 17 memes and two Facebook Stories last week, with engagement running into the tens of thousands and resulting in his most popular post for quite some time.  It is sad to say that such feedback comes on the back of carnage, corruption and the looming threat of digital fascism.  We'd much rather be doing something else, but our country is dying right before our eyes...

Mon 27 Oct - 202 shares

Mon 27 Oct - 218 shares

Tue 28 Oct - 11 shares. Starmer's decision to sell one of Europe's traditional
enemies with Typhoon jets is not something that surprises us

Tue 28 Oct - 1,033 shares. As far as we're aware, neither Starmer, Khan or
Shabana Mahmood have yet to utter the name Wayne Broadhurst once

Wed 29 Oct - 127 shares

Wed 29 Oct - 62 shares

Wed 29 Oct - 233 shares

Wed 29 Oct - 143 shares

Thu 30 Oct - 350 shares

Thu 30 Oct - 40 shares. Probably the scariest thing about Zack's far left party is
its team-up with radical Islamists - a partnership that will always end badly for
the leftists

Fri 31 Oct - 176 shares. Shortly after the scandal broke, Richey incorrectly
predicted that Rachel would be 'gone by Friday lunchtime'. However, later
that evening the establishment conspired to release the Andrew news,
timed perfectly to dislodge Reeves from the headlines and off Friday's
front pages. She was ultimately saved by a stitch-up between Number
Ten and Buckingham Palace

Fri 31 Oct - 206 shares

Fri 31 Oct - 11 shares. When Zarah's speeches get going, that
is one shrill pitch no-one wants to hear

Sat 1 Nov - 6,917 shares. The news cycle goes around quickly, but five days
later and Mr Broadhurst's brutal murder was still very much in the minds of the
British public. This turned out to be our most popular Facebook post for some
time

Sat 1 Nov - 249 shares

Sun 2 Nov - 180 shares

Sun 2 Nov - 29 shares. After the Facebook Story version of this was posted,
we began to receive some angry messages from people who took the words
literally and failed to perceive it as the satire with which it was intended.
We were mistaken for thinking that the presence of blood spatter and
communist insignia was enough to get across the message that diversity
is not strength. Oh well

Two powerful Facebook Stories were published last week, both in response to atrocities carried out in the nation formerly known as Great Britain...

If you appreciate Karl's sterling work you can show it by buying us both a metaphorical pint each here.  This helps fund our work and serves as a vital morale booster.

BOATWATCH #34

It was a big fat zero last week - no small boats detected in the Channel.  There is now very little chance that 2025 will break the all time record set in 2022 when almost 46,000 colonists were imported.  However, 2025 has already recorded the second highest number of boat migrants and could yet surpass the 40,000 mark.

With more and more criminal acts being reported almost daily, the carnage inflicted by these undocumented young male invaders is only going to get worse.

Total = 0 (down 220 from previous week)