Mike Clancy: Making our voice heard at TUC Congress 2026
Earlier this month, our delegation of Prospect reps and members, joined other trade unions from across the union movement, in Brighton to debate and vote on motions that will form the basis of the TUC’s work for the next year.
Prospect delegation, TUC Congress 2026
I want to start by expressing my thanks to our members who dedicated their time and effort to making sure Prospect’s voice was heard loud and clear by the wider trade union movement. Our delegation represented the incredible range of expertise and experience from across the union, including from the Bectu sector, energy, defence, and public services, among others. They spoke passionately on several motions affecting Prospect membership’s work, terms and conditions.
This year, a number of prescient themes dominated the discussion at Congress. Among them was the Prime Minister’s pledge to reindustrialise the UK. Prospect is clear that reindustrialisation needs to create good, unionised jobs. The topic of political donations was also high up the agenda, especially given the recent unprecedented and dangerous donations worth £72 million from crypto billionaires to the Reform Party. Our Senior Deputy General Secretary, Sue Ferns, described how unprecedented individual donations are fundamentally different from the collective contributions of millions of working people through trade unions. Prospect is not affiliated to any political party, but we are proud to have a political fund, because our members deserve a voice in politics.
I am also proud that Prospect’s own motions were both passed by Congress. First, motion 30, on defending regulators and opposing deregulation was carried, which called for the TUC to lobby the Government to urgently resource our regulators properly. Passing this motion forms part of Prospect’s national campaign against deregulation, with more activity planned later this year. Second, Congress carried motion 74, which called for the deepest possible partnership with the European Union, prioritising the needs of working people. This builds on previous motions we have passed at TUC on this theme, and includes important language on scrapping the ‘red lines’ on Europe set out by the previous government.
As General Secretary, I also spoke on behalf of our members in the defence sector against Motion 75. You can read more about this here, but I want to be very clear: Prospect will always support our members who do vital work in the defence sector keeping the UK safe in an increasingly insecure world. This debate was marked by a hostile tone and there will unfortunately be repercussions within the TUC.
Prospect’s delegation also voted on a number of other motions relevant to our members in line with policies set at our National Conference earlier this year. Our delegation spoke in support of motions regarding opposing cuts at the BBC, supporting self-employed workers, and protecting workers from the threat posed to certain jobs by AI. On the basis of the accompanying General Council statements, we also voted in support of motion 17 on opposing the EHRC Code of Practice, and composite 18 on Palestine, following similar debates on these issues at our own Conference in June.
Congress also heard from the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, and the First Secretary of State, Louise Haigh MP, who both gave speeches to delegates. Prospect delegate Katie Hanson also got the opportunity to question Louise Haigh on the Government’s proposed cuts to UKRI-funded facilities where many of our members work.
This was a Congress, which highlighted yet again the unique and important voice of Prospect and our members on the most pressing issues facing working people today. It also showed where the union movement can successfully work together whilst also indicating the challenges ahead.
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