John was a founder member of the Communist Party of Great Britain[1] and took an active part in the 1926 General Strike.

From 1970 onwards he was the subject of phone tapping by the UK security service MI5, whose transcribers found him difficult to understand because of his accent and the effects of alcohol consumption.

Nevertheless, he took a characteristically militant line, opposing some of the tactics of Gormley, accusing him of "ballotisis" and swearing he would not be "constitutionalised" out of a national strike.

[4] James Cowan, then deputy chairman of the NCB, claims that McGahey warned him to retire in 1983 and protect his health, as he feared that a "bloody" strike was inevitable with the appointment of Ian MacGregor and that there would be conflict between different regions in the NUM.

[6] After the strike, McGahey became more critical of Arthur Scargill and argued against the growing concentration of power within the NUM in the national leadership at the expense of regional areas.

"[9] On the death of Ian MacGregor (chair of the National Coal Board during the 1984–85 strike), McGahey said, "It's no loss to people of my ilk.

MacGregor was a vicious, anti-trades unionist, anti-working class person, recruited by the Tory government quite deliberately for the purpose of destroying trade unionism in the mining industry.