[Mike]

On January 30 1649 King Charles I was executed. His execution caused a change of sides by most of the Scots who had previously supported the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War as, for all his faults, Charles was still a Scottish Stuart king.

Today in 1999 Mick McGahey, Scottish mining trade unionist died. He was Vice-President of the NUM during the 1970-80s, the country's most powerful and influential trade union. McGahey was the rightful heir of Joe Gormley as President, but he was unable to take up the succession through the introduction of a rule that no-one over 55 could be a candidate for the national, full-time office.