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Its odd that two people who left school on the same day, from the same school, and lived through the best part of three years od being on the dole.

Fast forward 35 years, and he is a not so young conservative, trainee gammon and Brexiteer, and I am who I am.

His conversion into a Thatcherite you Tory was quite swift.

I remember Simon as being a trainee punk, who quickly got into Oi, and maybe that explains it? Too many Angelic Upstart records, too many Oi compilations.

None of this I knew, until I took him to a Billy Bragg concert in Norwich in about 1984 or 85. I thought all young people on the dole were Labour supporters, but Simon was a Tory, who swore about Bragg's comments about Thatcher.

Simon got a job, selling safety clothing, or as a rep selling it, so got a company car, and when I caught up with him in 1995 when I was on leave from the RAF in Germany, he was so proud to have a new BMW on his drive.

We had a huge falling out in 1988, not through politics, but over money. I bought tickets for Michael Jackson in London, the four tickets cost £100, and he owed me fifty for his and his partner's tickets. He let me down, not answering the door when I called at his house.

That was the end.

We did bump into each other on New Year's Eve, and we let the past be the past, so had a few drinks.

Last time we met, he had this handshake thing, which I recognised as being a pwer thing. I laughed out loud. He meant well, I guess.

And today, he showed up on a friend's comment thread about Johnson and Brexit. I made a comment about how sit it all was. I suppose you could have negotiated a better deal, Ian? My cat could have done I replied.

Then he went full on gammon and tried telling me how democratic Brexit was.

Sigh.

We all get old, some just get gammon too.

Sigh.