David Redfern
@jmbgeog.bsky.social
Geographer; writer; speaker; retired Deputy Head and former Chief Examiner. Born in Huddersfield. Woke, 'educated idiot'. Substack: dredfern.substack.com
Kemi Badenoch has just KILLED downsizing in retirement Welcome to millions of frail, single pensioners, in homes far too big for them, refusing to move for fear of the tax hit giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Tory conference live: Kemi Badenoch pledges to scrap inheritance tax on family homes
Conservative leader pledges to slash levies while accusing Andy Burnham of ‘spending money we don’t have’
giftarticle.ft.com
First Gulf of Mexico hurricane coming for the first time in ages??? theeyewall.substack.com/p/tropical-d...
Tropical Depression 9 likely to threaten the central or eastern Gulf Coast as a hurricane by the weekend
Isaias is the next name, and it looks likely to form in a day or so.
theeyewall.substack.com
Turns out some middle-eastern-looking guy went up to 5 unemployed young blokes in an east London pub and said I'll pay you a few hundred quid each to drive 3 white vans to Gloucestershire with some cans of petrol in them.... and a week later the USA airforce got frit and left. #Superpowers
Caught up with the 2 programmes of 70 Up. The prog has been with me all my adult life - watched 7 Up and 14 Up as part of my PGCE. Great to see what some have done in their lives eg. John the lawyer, Symon who fostered hundreds. Also, interesting to see how manipulative M Apted (the Director) was.
NEW ANALYSIS: Record wind and solar save UK from gas imports worth £5.9bn during Hormuz crisis 🌤️ wind/solar generation up 14% in 2026 to date 🏭 gas down ~10% 🚢 >100 LNG cargoes avoided
This is brilliant. Burnham sold the plan so well yesterday...
Calling all teachers... Having recently completed my self-assessment tax form, I am prompted to repeat to you: Do not reduce your payments into your Teacher Pension Do not cash-out early or take a lump sum before your retire Contemplate adding an AVC to your pension - you won't regret it...
Kuenssberg has her own agenda, she wants soundbites that the BBC etc can clip NOW, and Burnham is not playing by her rules. He's saying wait... I'll say what, why, when in my time. Good for Burnham.
Alex Andreou@sturdyalex.bsky.social · last wk.Absolutely fascinating to see Laura Kuenssberg interviewing Burnham, flailing to adjust her stance to a politician with a moral argument and a positive message, who stands up for his policies and answers her questions clearly. She is getting so agitated at him not playing the game by the 'rules'.
A warm afternoon and 4 of these little blighters have woken up. How do I get them back to bed??
A bit of autumnal weekend reading for A Level Geography students... dredfern.substack.com/p/an-essay-w...
An essay-writing set of reposts.
[Almost 500 people have subscribed in the last few weeks, and I suspect most of these are A level students.
dredfern.substack.com
Fascinating insight into how people are responding to data centres in their local area in the US... including the new campaign by Erin Brockovich. mapoftheweek.substack.com/p/erin-brock...
Erin Brockovich’s AI Data Center Map
I recently saw an interview with consumer advocate Erin Brockovich. She put together an interactive data center map to keep track of the data center issues across the United States.
mapoftheweek.substack.com
I’ve written to my MP, the Home Secretary and the PM this morning demanding that the government take action to defend the RNLI and clamp down on these far-right “activists”, who need to be arrested and charged for the criminal offences in this thread alone, as well as others in recent weeks.
Emma Yeomans@yeomans.bsky.social · 2w agoWorrying scenes in the Channel today, for all interested in asylum policy and maritime tactics. A small boat from Normandy spent more than 30 hours at sea. Those on board now on their 2nd rescue vessel as Border Force forced to play cat and mouse with far-right activists who have their own boat.
The role of the key word 'Culture' in Geography. dredfern.substack.com/p/a-key-key-...
A key ‘Key word’
Culture
dredfern.substack.com
Watching Series 5 of Fauda on Netflix... Just watched episodes 7 and 8. Not a comfortable watch (they portray Oct 7th). Presuming this has been shown in Israel, how can anyone vote for Netanyahu when he knew something was to happen up to a week ahead??
Says Monaco-living, non tax-paying pillock. Ratcliffe can go forth and multiply. BBC News - Billionaire Man United owner says he has lost confidence in the UK www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Billionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UK
Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea.
bbc.co.uk
That security deal effectively existed before and without Trump’s hollow and reckless threats. The US has a base in Greenland; Greenland is part of Denmark which is a founding-member of NATO. Nothing to see here other than another spectacular backtracking by Trump
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 3w agoUS and Denmark reach security deal after Trump’s threats to take over Greenland
Latest Substack... the Dubai Tower, nowhere near Dubai, but sailing across the 'top' of the world, with all its ramifications. dredfern.substack.com/p/the-northe...
The Northern Sea Route
Global systems – The Polar Silk Road
dredfern.substack.com
1. Let the people of Pidlington leave the UK. 2. Revoke any UK driving licences, passports and official documents they may hold. 3. Arrest any of them found outside Pidlington on the basis that they would then be undocumented migrants.
I am going to make two predictions about the Iran war... 1. Iran will not target US ships or bases, except for reprisals, until after the mid-terms 2. After the mid-terms, Iran WILL target bases, ships and prominent people. To do either before the mid-terms would benefit Trump.
Latest Q&A post on Substack: essay writing, plate tectonics and governance. dredfern.substack.com/p/a-question...
A Question-and-Answer post
A Plate tectonics essay
dredfern.substack.com
Disgraceful that the RNLI have to say this today, but here we are 😞. If you would like to donate👇🏻. rnli.org/support-us/g... #RNLI #RNLISavesLives
Latest post: Global wheat supplies, and 'America Alone'. dredfern.substack.com/p/global-whe...
Global wheat supplies
And, America Alone
dredfern.substack.com
WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE SECRETS DISPLAYED ON ROADSIGNS
A new reservoir v. desalination. A superb account here of the issue from Hannah Ritchie. hannahritchie.substack.com/p/forget-mor...
Forget more reservoirs; should the UK just build desalination plants instead?
Maybe, but not as a way to manage droughts. That’s when they seem to break.
hannahritchie.substack.com
This is an excellent prop to introduce the topic of globalisation.
Ed Conway@edconway.bsky.social · last mo.✍️ Want to understand the bonkers nature of the modern economy? Take a ride with me on the 30,000 mile journey the cod in a fish finger takes between being caught off the coast of Scotland and consumed in a British home 🤯 Promise I'm not making this up👇 edconway.substack.com/p/the-30000-...
Everyday I wonder how things can get stupider and everyday I am informed how, against my will.
A piece of junk floating in the sea. They need prosecuting for not cleaning up after themselves
Rev Peter W Nimmo@peternimmo.bsky.social · 2mo agoI wish the media wouldn't cover SpaceX as if it were an exciting frontier-pushing scientific endeavour when it's really the vanity project of a megalomaniac Bond villain type www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
