Trade union militancy will outlast the Tories

The Trades Union Congress ( TUC ) serves almost as a warm-up act for the trade union movement’s political wing, the Labour Party .

The Congress Hall is more feminised, multi-ethnic and diverse than ever, but still holds its fair share of that distinct tribe: the big, bald trade unionist bloke of a certain vintage, sometimes seen on the six o’clock news, stood, looking serious, on a picket line.

Angela Rayner is shadow deputy prime minister and shadow levelling-up secretary.

Delegates also want reassurance of Labour’s New Deal for Workers policy document.

Rayner championed by Rayner would vastly expand workers’ rights, banning zero-hour contracts, ending fire-and-rehire schemes, repealing anti-strike legislation.