this, next, last

[joham]

BLOOMSBURY GOOD WORD GUIDE says that in the sentence below this is often used to take the place of next:
I'm not going to the club next/ this Friday. (say today is Tuesday)

Then I have another question:
If today is Friday, and Tom left for London three days ago (i.e. Tuesday), can we say 'Tom left for London this/ last Tuesday'? If the answer is yes, then in such cases, we can say this=last?

[David L.]

next Friday = this Friday coming/Friday of this week.
Next Friday indicates, not 'last Friday', not 'Friday of next week'.
So, it would have to be, Tom left last Tuesday. To say he 'left' (past tense) contradicts if you then say it will be at a future date, 'next' or 'this' Tuesday (coming).