Bridget Phillipson's speech to TUC conference, 2025

Speech delivered by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson at the Trades Union Congress annual conference in Brighton, 2025

Thank you, Congress, for that warm welcome. What a joy it is to be back here in Brighton. And back here with the TUC.

Thank you to Mark, and to Paul, and to the whole team, and thank you to every single trade union rep in our country who gives up their time to ensure that workers have respect and a voice at work.

I never forget the role that trade unions have played in winning change for working people in the last hundred years [POLITICAL].

In the department that I am proud to lead, I retrieved a bust of Ernie Bevin, one of the great trade unionists of the last century, and restored it to pride of place. 

It was during the Second World War that Ernie served as Minister of Labour and National Service.

And in our country's darkest hour, it was the trade union movement that stepped up, that provided so many of the men and women who stepped forward to lead the change that we needed.

When I took on this role, I was clear that I wanted to draw on the wisdom of the unions – that's why I set up the Improving Education Together initiative.

Union expertise – valued, not ignored.

The voice of the workforce – valued, not ignored.

And thank you to everyone who has fed into this initiative. Together, we are improving education.

And, Congress, today I want to tell you why that matters.

I want to tell you two stories – one about my past and another about this country's future. 

My roots run deep into our working-class communities.

The working people of this country.

The joiners, the steelworkers, the cleaners, the shipbuilders, the carers, all of our public servants.  

Congress, I grew up on a street of council houses in Washington, in the north east – just me and my mam. 

And back when I was young, a man turned up at the front door with a baseball bat.

A few weeks earlier, we'd been burgled – and my mam had reported it to the police.  Now the man had come back to scare her into silence. 

He clearly didn't know my mam though. Because even at 9 years old I could have told him he was wasting his time.

She stood her ground, he went to prison. 

Congress, from my mam I learned about strength. Not the kind that preys on the weak. 

No, I learned the kind that stands up to adversity. The strength to do what's right, even if it would be easier to crumble.

That street of ours had challenges, yes, of course.

But there was kindness. There was compassion. So much of it.

There was our neighbour who knew that we were struggling one winter,

And posted an envelope through the letterbox, marked ‘for Bridget's coat'. 

And I never forget that kindness.

There were my grandparents, too, who moved here from Ireland,

A happy presence in my childhood. It's from my grandad that I get my love of reading and learning.

From the days when he would bounce me on his knee – book in hand.

He fought on the front line for our country in World War 2,

Then was in the vanguard of new nurses helping to build the new National Health Service [POLITICAL].

And so, Congress, when people ask me where my values come from, I point to my mam, to my grandparents, to my neighbours, to my community.

I know that all of you, right across our movement, in your own lives, will have those figures who inspired and motivated you.

These values that underpin our working-class communities, that show why we must return this country to the service of working people.

To deliver our Plan for Change. To build the Britain we all want to see.  Strong and fearless, yet kind and compassionate. 

A modern Britain, head held high in the world. Where opportunity is open to all. Where the contribution of working people is rewarded.

Where no-one need live only to work, but where everyone can work to live.

That's the future I want for our young people today. 

But, Congress, that journey won't be easy. 

I'd like you to think of two siblings today – an older brother and his baby sister, growing up on that same street I did.

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Born too late for the Child Trust Fund. Born when Sure Start Centres that once were so many had become so few. 

Born when the nursery place that he and his family needed had slipped cruelly out of reach. 

And now,  what opportunities are open to him? 

Does he have enough money in his pocket to enjoy the simple things in life? To buy a new jacket, a ticket to the match, a holiday with his friends?

Does he see a route to a good career, a house, and a family? 

Does he believe in his bones that if he works hard, as his parents have told him, he can get on?

Or does he believe that for young people like him, that dream is dying?

Because today there are people in our country who want that dream to fail.

They come with simple slogans in answer to complex problems.

They come happy to scapegoat, to talk of traitors.

Peddling their narrative of betrayal. Seeking to divide us. I can talk about the dangers we face, and the need for unity.

But it's not enough. It's not nearly enough.

The government, just as this movement, must show, not tell.

And it must sow real hope and opportunity for all our young people.

Congress, the moral mission of this government – must be to build the country that that young man deserves.

So that his life is lit up with choice and freedom. 

In control of his own destiny.

His little sister is just a baby, but the fight to give her every opportunity in life must begin now. 

By the time she reaches school, her first chapters will already have been written.

That's why this government is investing £500 million to roll out up to a thousand Best Start Family Hubs this parliament.

To give her and her friends the best start in life. The best of Sure Start's history, reimagined for our future. 

Bringing together all the information and support her parents need. Putting her on the path to success at school even in her earliest days.

And last week our childcare revolution reached new heights. 

Her parents can now access 30 hours of government-funded childcare every week, right from the end of their parental leave up to her first day of school.

A massive moment in our Plan for Change, and we'll reach over half a million families this term, helped by our school-based nurseries and providers across the country.

£7,500 a year back into parents' pockets.  And freedom as well, to work the hours they want, the cost of childcare no longer pricing parents out of their dream job, a higher salary or a better life.

And when that little girl arrives at primary school there's a new free breakfast club ready to welcome her.

Working mams and dads tell me how much that means. 

That extra £450 back in their pockets. Together with the free childcare, up to almost £8,000 a year. 

And that's not just a number on a page:

It's about not feeling sick with worry if your washing machine packs up,

It's not making do with cold showers if your boiler breaks,

It's about being able to say yes to an ice cream in the park, a trip to the beach or an afternoon at the cinema.

But our breakfast clubs, congress, they go further. They build the belief that children belong in school.

And that matters, perhaps now more than ever.

There are some families in this country, some communities even, where that faith is fading. 

Young people unable to even imagine a promising future, let alone grasp it.

School didn't work for their parents, why should it work for them?

Congress, our schools have come so far, driven forward by our amazing school workforce. 

But there are still groups of children for whom school just isn't working. 

Like Children with special educational needs and disabilities.

More likely to be suspended. Less likely to do well in English and maths.

It's frankly unacceptable. And it's a similar story for working-class children too. 

Lower attainment. Lower life chances. But I refuse to lower my expectations.

Congress, I'll tell you why I'm so passionate about our schools. Because schools, and often schools alone, are the pathway to opportunity for working class kids. 

I know it because I lived it. I know what it takes to go from a tough street of council houses  into the Cabinet.

Great schools.  Fantastic teachers. A strong sense community.

And I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, every single person across this country who works in a school.

Support staff, teachers, school meals workers, leaders, cleaners, caretakers, every one of you.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

But the success of our children today depends on so much more.

Alongside everything you do there is much to achieve.

I had a family steeped in the proud working-class tradition of learning, of self-improvement.

The same tradition that saw miners' halls in my constituency with libraries, stocked with books, journals and newspapers. 

The same tradition that sees banners lifted every year at the Big Meeting in Durham proclaiming the universal, immortal truth that knowledge is power.

The same tradition that sees Union Learn colleagues fight for the learning of your members.

Now Congress, I was lucky. I know I was. But life shouldn't come down to luck.

I think of that young man today from my community growing up in Britain today.

Where is the proof that education is the route to prosperity for him?

When he sees just one in five children like him getting a strong pass in English and maths at GCSE. 

And I tell you this, Congress, not just as Education Secretary but on behalf of this government as a whole. 

Because this isn't just a mark of the health of our schools.

But the health of our society.

When we deny our working-class kids the opportunity their talent demands, 

We deny the country the chance of a brighter future.

Wages lower. Work less secure. Growth on the floor.

And that breeds resentment, Congress. Dark clouds hanging over our towns and cities. 

So when I say that I am determined to build a school system that works for every child,

That delivers excellence and opportunity for every child. 

I mean it.

The Chancellor means it. The Prime Minister means it.

And we'll set out the change that we'll deliver through our a new schools white paper.

But I can tell you now, Congress, that this government will drive high and rising standards in every school in the country.

No compromises. No exceptions. Strong on standards.

That means strong accountability and strong support for schools.

Over 200 of the schools which need that support the most are now getting it through our new regional improvement – or RISE – teams

And today I announced that number will almost double. Almost 100,000 more pupils across the country will benefit.

Expert support, from the best of the best in our school system.

Just as we are putting our economy back in the service of working people, 

we are putting our schools back in the service of working people.

And these two are indivisible.

A good education is the only way that working people can get the best from our economy.

And that goes beyond schools.  Especially for our young man.

He's left the classroom behind. He's not sure what's next. 

But he doesn't want to be sitting on mam and dad's sofa come September.

He wants to get on. But without the right support he could so easily slip into stagnation.

Retreating into a parallel life. Days and nights spent alone in his bedroom.

Accessing all manner of material online. Vulnerable to the toxic messages he finds there. 

As the months pass, hope disappears. And anger seeps into the gaps. That's how our social fabric begins to fray.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

Our task is to help that young man claim a stake in our society.

He needs top-quality choices. A route into university.

Or a great apprenticeship.

Like the apprentices I met at British Steel in Scunthorpe last month. Who wouldn't have had that chance were it not for this government stepping in and taking action to secure its future.

And I am delighted that British Steel are now taking on their first apprentices in three years.

For our man an apprenticeship, is the chance to learn a trade. To earn the respect of his friends. To feel a part of something.

That's why we're revitalising apprenticeships for young people in this country. 

Widening access, adding flexibility, more people earning and learning.

Adding to their prosperity and our country's growth.

Because that's the win-win of investing in skills.

It backs working people and it drives our economy forward. 

Because you know that if we don't back you, then houses aren't built,

children aren't taught, patients miss out,

our country doesn't get the change it needs.   

The change to make work pay. 

That is not the work of one single department, but of the entire government. 

Investing not just in top skills for working people, but in good jobs for working people.

Not just here and there, but in every town and city in the country.

And routes into those good jobs through a revitalised skills system, working as one with our industrial strategy.

That's why we're developing a comprehensive plan for post-16 education and skills.

For a new future of skills, a new future of work. 

Clear and coherent support, when and where it's needed.

Our movement has always supported training and retraining in times of change.

Working people have always been ready to hold up their end of the deal. 

And now government must hold up to ours, and cement good, secure jobs in legislation, through the Employment Rights Bill.

Proof of the transformative change of which our movement is capable.  

Fair pay for a fair day's work.

No more exploitative zero hours contracts.

No more flexibility for one side but not the other.

Instead, a baseline of security for workers,  

Day one rights, sick pay, family rights, bereavement leave,

Strong collective rights that give workers a stronger collective voice, fit for the modern world.

That is our promise: that if people work for this country, this country will work for them.

And we're leading from the front in our schools, with the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.

At long last, once more a direct voice for our fantastic school support staff: our caretakers, our catering staff, our teaching assistants, 

the people that bind our school communities together.

And make no mistake, they will be properly recognised and rewarded for the vital work they do. That's the progress this country needs. 

For adult social care workers too. It can be a hard job – long hours and tough terms.

But, Congress, show me a job with more value, and show me a workforce with more heart.

Overlooked until now.

And that's why the Employment Rights Bill will also deliver an historic Fair Pay Agreement in social care.

But Congress, what about that young man's baby sister? 

What kind of Britain are we building for her and for little girls everywhere?

As Minister for Women and Equalities, I'm deeply proud of the progress this government has already made. 

Hard won, hand in hand with women's groups and trade unions.

That little girl deserves to grow up in a Britain where she gets every opportunity that her brother does.

So, Congress, we're acting. With our plan to make work pay, we'll make gender pay gap action plans mandatory.

It's not enough just for employers to just know about the gender pay gap – we're making them tackle it.

And for disabled and ethnic minority workers too, rooting out pay discrimination wherever we find it. Going further, reviewing parental leave, strengthening protections against sexual harassment at work.

And I'm delighted to say that, for the first time, this government will commence the socio-economic duty, so that people from backgrounds like mine, backgrounds like yours, are never forgotten.

So that when public authorities make strategic decisions, they'll have to consider how they can ease the inequalities that still blight our communities.

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For the good of our country, we choose to go forward, not back.

And Congress, make no mistake, let there be no doubt.

One year we ago we were elected to deliver this Employment Rights Bill and, Congress, that is what we will do.

We won't accept any watering down by the Lords.

Forward with the Employment Rights Bill.

In full.

No ifs, no buts.

Forward.

Let's change this country together.

For that young man, for his baby sister, for working-class communities across our country, £8 billion of investment in early years.

Free breakfast clubs already reaching almost 80,000 children in our most deprived communities. 

Free school meals for half a million more children. 

Higher standards in our schools.

Stronger rights for workers.

Better choices for parents.

Freedom for families.

A new wave of opportunity.

Congress, this is what real change looks like.

The kind that both feeds off and fuels a belief in better.

Building a cycle of hope not hostility.

And the chance to work with you to deliver that change is the greatest privilege of my life. 

It's why the worst day in government is still better than the best day in opposition.

It's why, no matter how hard the challenges, no matter how tough the choices, what drives me forward every day is the brighter future our children and country deserve.

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So I ask you to continue working with us, on the good days and the bad, to keep up the fight, in our towns and our cities, in all our workplaces, to build a country of which we can all be proud.

Together we can restore opportunity and hope to working people, and build a stronger Britain.