Prospect Defence Sector AGM: “Thanks for what you do for our country”

Senior defence reps met at Prospect’s headquarters at Rochester Row in London this week for the Defence Sector AGM where they discussed industry updates and issues, voted on motions submitted by branches and heard from Tan Dhesi MP, chair of the Defence Committee.

In his remarks to open the AGM, Bob King, Prospect National Secretary for Defence, spoke about the number of armed conflicts around the world and the importance of the work done by workers in the sector to keep our nations safe.

While acknowledging that the defence industry has its critics, even from within parts of Prospect’s own membership, Bob was resolute in his support for, and pride in representing, the defence sector.

“We just need to make sure we’ve got a clear message. If people have got a problem with UK defence policy, there’s a big house with a clock on it and they can go protest down there, but they’re not going to stand outside our yards and bully and harass and assault our members who just turn up to do a day’s work.”

Bob also mentioned two other pressing issues, the first of which was the potential impact of AI on jobs and workplaces.

Bob King

“We need to be aware of these threats. You’ve all been through things, like automation and the introduction of new methodology, which has potentially reduced, or changed your jobs.

“But the one thing we’ve maintained all the way through this, and part of the dispute that we’ve got at AWE, is that we are not going to let the employer make our working lives more dangerous, and we’re not going to reduce the quality of the work just because they want to save a few quid.”

Finally, he spoke about social value.

“Everybody in the defence industry should have a good pension scheme; have safe working conditions; and have the opportunity to be in an organised trade union, which we’d obviously like to be Prospect, but they should at least be in an organised union.”

Defence Committee Chair

For one session, the Defence Sector AGM welcomed Tan Dhesi MP, chair of the House of Commons Defence Committee, who spoke about their work scrutinising the government’s defence policies and plans, holding inquiries and publishing the reports of their findings.

“I might be a Labor MP, but my job in the Defence Committee is not to extol the virtues of the government of the day. My job, along with my fellow members, is to say, look, this is where you’re doing well; this is where you could be doing a lot better. And to ask, why are we not doing this? Why is this happening, or why is this not happening?”

He also made a point of thanking Prospect’s defence members for their work. He said:

“Thank you very much for what you do for our country. It is a very important role. Let nobody tell you otherwise. I know that there are some within our community and society who seem to think that defence is some sort of negative thing and we shouldn’t be investing in this area. No.

“We need to invest in defence, and we need to make sure that we are meeting the moment, especially with the grave threats and the changing geopolitical situation that we’re facing.”

Tan Dhesi MP

Mr Dhesi also revealed that fellow MPs had told him about the ‘many emails’ they were receiving about the issues at AWE and asking him what his committee was planning to do about it.

He pledged to Sector President Helen Carp (AWE), if she formally wrote to the committee, that they would be able consider looking at the problems there.

The Defence Committee Chair made a similar promise to look at sexual assault incidents against civilian staff within the Ministry of Defence, when asked about the growing concerns by Sue Ferns, Prospect Senior Deputy General Secretary.

Motions & Elections

Three motions were brought by the DE&S branch to the Defence AGM and they were all carried.

Motion 1: Prospect membership system 
“The defence sector is requested to work to improve the membership record system by adding a record of when the members details were last confirmed by the member and introducing and automated reminder to the system for the member to confirm this every 12 months.”

Motion 2: Strategic Defence Review target to cut civil service costs by at least 10% by 2030 
“The defence sector notes that this is an arbitrary target and that civil service costs are a very small amount of the defence budget… The sector is therefore instructed to campaign against this target, requiring evidence that any reduction in civil service cost is genuine”

Motion 3 – Negotiating pay and terms and conditions within MOD 
Prospect reps and officers “adhere to a strict policy of rejecting any detrimental change proposed by MOD (and its Agents) to pay and grading structures, terms & conditions, pensions etc. In practice, those involved should reject any detrimental changes out of hand and with no negotiation and be prepared to take all necessary legal action against the MOD et al if any detrimental changes are imposed.”

Emergency motion
The Rosyth Royal Dockyard branch submitted an emergency motion speaking out against a new group, supported by the Socialist Party, calling themselves ‘Democratising Prospect.’

The motion, carried unanimously, states:

“As we approach Prospect’s biennial conference in 2026, and in light of the creation of groups within Prospect inimical to defence and defence work , defence sector workers are worried that they will once again face attacks on their professionalism, integrity and careers from some parts of the Prospect activist base.

“The SEC is therefore instructed to work with the General Secretary, assisted by the Defence Sector Secretary to draft and publish a statement supporting defence policies [and] defence workers.”

Lee Attwells (left) and Helen Carp (centre)

Elections
The Defence AGM also saw the re-election of Helen Carp (AWE) as Sector President and Lee Attwells (MOD) as Sector Vice-President. 

General Secretary’s remarks

In his address to the delegates, Mike Clancy, Prospect General Secretary, thanked Rosyth Royal Dockyard for their emergency motion on ‘Democratising Prospect’, saying “it is unacceptable.”

He forcefully rejected their ideas for more Prospect staff to be elected and to be paid reduced wages, ‘similar to a skilled worker.’

“It would be the ruination of unions and the breeding ground of factionalism,” Mike said.

Mike Clancy

“You can be sure that a priority for me, as we head to National Conference, is to make sure that defence representatives and defence workers know this union values them.”

He also urged the delegates to take part in the NEC elections and to attend National Conference in the Spring.

Mike’s other main message to the delegates was on the passing of the Employment Rights Act.

“What we should be doing is being focused upon the task at hand, which is that for the first time in a long time we have an Employment Rights Act. The direction and the mood of public policy is clear… It is crucial that in 2026 we maximise those opportunities.”

See more images from the Defence Sector AGM on the Prospect Flickr page.