His extreme views led to his conviction and imprisonment for three months in April 1918 under the Defence of the Realm Act ; he was also sentenced to two months’ imprisonment in 1921 for inciting to unlawful assembly . He played a leading part in the general strike of 1926 and the prolonged miners’ strike which followed. His slogan ‘Not a penny off the pay, not a second on the day’ became the cry of the miners throughout the country.

In 1926 he visited Moscow and was warmly received. But his views changed considerably in the next few years and in 1929 he was deprived of the honorary membership of the Moscow Soviet and the honorary studentship of the Mining Academy granted to him during his visit.

He wrote a number of pamphlets such as The Nine Days , The Miners' Next Step , Miners' Unofficial Reform . He was a member of the Coal Advisory Board to the Secretary for Mines .

He endured great physical pain during his last years from an injury received whilst a miner and aggravated by an attack on him during the 1926 strike . His leg had to be amputated , complications set in, and he d. at the Manor House Hospital , London , 2 Nov. 1931 .