Best Of

A turn up for the books.

A friend from Mansfield - late 60s / early 70s who is a widower - has just moved to semi-rural China, and is currently building a house.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPZEtRuzJ2U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMIIsVJ3lhY

I have not seen him for 1-2 years, so ... there's a story to find out about.

Surely, the last thing China needs right now is more houses?

Having had a bit of a look, I'd say he's setting himself up for the second last chapter. He's perhaps in the phase equivalent to when @Big_G & Mrs Big_G went travelling and cruising. He's been a Brompton man forever so probably gets the extra healthy life years that come on average with consistent cycling, has done things like car camping, and was one of the people in the Cycling UK High Court action that stopped the Mansfield total cycling ban a few years ago.

He's prosperous Midlands blue collar with a consistent career, and has a nice 4 bed house in an above average suburb. He will have a decent and secure occupational pension, and is shifting to a twin base of small bungalow in Retford (nice small town in North Notts) and his new house in Changping in China. He's on his own now so he's going exploring and life will be interesting.

When he becomes less active, he will I think come back to Retford for small town life. It's a good place for it.

I think he has been disillusioned by the current situation in the UK, media, and local politics.

And this is his reaction. I say good for him.

"Middle-class white men banned from public sector internship
National Audit Office’s six-week paid programme only accepts female, black heritage or lower socio-economic applicants" (£)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/06/06/middle-class-white-men-banned-from-public-sector-internship/

Thames Water hosting a refugee only recruitment day !!

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/insight/thames-water-defends-refugee-only-careers-day-amid-backlash/gm-GM8D04174F?gemSnapshotKey=GM8D04174F-snapshot-1

This one had me thinking. Normally refugees have neither the 'right to work' or the 'right to rent' - unless they have been granted refugee status i.e. have been confirmed as genuine refugees. Once given the 'right to work' they need to be economically active and TW must be canvassing for skills within the refugee cohort. There are definitely a lot of skills there, from my experience.

This then begs the question which no doubt the usual suspects will raise such as :

* are they simply economic migrants hiding among refugees
* are they stealing jobs that the domestic population could do
* are they just here for the benefits (a high proportion of those on benefits are in work)

People will have their own views. The main issue though is that in a nation bound by the rule of law (one assumes) once their status has been confirmed, they are here legally for work and accommodation purposes. Unless of course you do something on a bus you shouldn't.

People complain about refugees not making an adequate economic contribution. Then when somebody does something to try to help them overcome the additional hurdles they face so they can make that economic contribution, the same people shout and scream about that too.

On the subject of Aberdeen. I am currently staying 3 days a week at the house of a friend (a South African) in the city whilst I work on decomm jobs up there. His house is in one of the nicer parts of the city close to Duthie Park. He had intended selling up last year and moving back to South Africa with his family.

He bought his house in 2012 for £600,000. He has had about £150,000 in work done on the place. When he tried to sell in spring last year he priced it at £500,000 on the recommendation of various estate agents and got no interest at all. He has now taken it off the market. The collapse in house prices in Aberdeen in the last 2 years has been remarkable.

Aberdeen house prices have always been boom and bust, they may have finally come to the point where the market realises there is going to be no more boom. Without oil Aberdeen prices should have been on a par with those of Dundee, and they’re probably now converging.

I wonder if the people of Dundee regret or are relieved that their leadership screwed up the arrival of the Oil industry in the early 70s? The original plan was for Dundee to be the main centre for UK O&G but the local politicians rejected the plans and hence it all went to Aberdeen.

Dundee University still retained it centre of excellence role for oil and gas studies. But thin gruel compared to what Aberdeen bagged.

On the subject of Aberdeen. I am currently staying 3 days a week at the house of a friend (a South African) in the city whilst I work on decomm jobs up there. His house is in one of the nicer parts of the city close to Duthie Park. He had intended selling up last year and moving back to South Africa with his family.

He bought his house in 2012 for £600,000. He has had about £150,000 in work done on the place. When he tried to sell in spring last year he priced it at £500,000 on the recommendation of various estate agents and got no interest at all. He has now taken it off the market. The collapse in house prices in Aberdeen in the last 2 years has been remarkable.

Aberdeen house prices have always been boom and bust, they may have finally come to the point where the market realises there is going to be no more boom. Without oil Aberdeen prices should have been on a par with those of Dundee, and they’re probably now converging.

I wonder if the people of Dundee regret or are relieved that their leadership screwed up the arrival of the Oil industry in the early 70s? The original plan was for Dundee to be the main centre for UK O&G but the local politicians rejected the plans and hence it all went to Aberdeen.

Total disaster for Dundee from which we have never recovered. Aberdeen has its problems now, seriously aggravated by the idiocy of Miliband, but it has also had many good times which set the City up in ways we can only dream of. And, as I am sure you have, when you go around the industrial estates around Aberdeen there are still a lot of hi tec firms working away, often far away from the North Sea.

Scotland was probably after London one of the better results for the Tories in May. Although the Scottish Tories still lost MSPs whereas London Tories made net gains of council seats, they held most of their Holyrood constituencies. Whereas in provincial England outside London lots of Tory councillors lost their seats particularly to Reform and Scottish Tories got a higher voteshare in the Holyrood vote than Welsh Tories did in the Senedd.

Kemi also still has a reasonable 20% favourable rating in Scotland. The Aberdeen Deeside and North Kincardine Holyrood seat which largely overlaps with the Aberdeen South Westminster seat was also one of a minority of constituencies in Scotland where the Tories beat Reform and were still in the top 2 against the SNP. Indeed the Tories were just 4% behind the SNP so if they squeeze the 17% who voted Reform then they could beat the SNP and win the seat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdeen_Deeside_and_North_Kincardine

Arbroath is the type of seat Labour might win back if Burnham wins the Makerfield by election and replaces Starmer as Labour leader and PM but it won't while Starmer remains PM which he still will be when the by elections are held

How is going from 31 MSPs to 12 in Scotland one of the Tories' "better results"?