He was an early convert to Communism, at age 17 in 1928. He was once jailed for two years in southeast Asia while trying to agitate for Communist reforms. He was the news editor of the Daily Worker, the largest Communist publication in Britain. After his resignation, he wrote a book, "Dedication and Leadership" about his experiences and the specific tactics of the Communists especially in the way that they recruited their members and built them into leaders. He also published an auto-biography "I Believed. The Autobiography of a Former British Communist" On his death he had allegedly become an agnostic, having had difficulties pursuing social justice and economic equality issues within the Catholic Church.