British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. Image: keystone
More than 180,000 babies born to unmarried mothers were forcibly given up for adoption in England and Wales between 1949 and 1976. Now Prime Minister Keir Starmer has apologized to mothers and children for the first time on behalf of the state.
July 2, 2026, 10:13 p.mJuly 2, 2026, 10:13 p.m
What happened should never have happened, Starmer said in the House of Commons. He added: “This is a blot on our history.”
According to the Labor politician, these were not isolated cases, but rather practices that were systemic in local authorities. The authorities were given power over people’s lives, but exercised it “without compassion, without participation, without dignity and without adequate protective mechanisms.”
Coercion to adopt due to social ideas
In the adoption scandal, unmarried women were pressured to give up their children due to societal ideas at the time. Years ago, the Joint Committee on Human Rights demanded an apology from the state, according to Sky broadcaster. This was preceded by an investigation in which people spoke to those affected and experts.
According to the PA news agency, the Movement for an Adoption Apology initiative now spoke of an important step “for the hundreds of thousands of mothers who are still living with their loss and whose suffering has finally been recognized” – even if the apology comes far too late. In the past decades, many affected mothers made their experiences public and, according to PA, reported feelings of shame that they still lived with today.
Starmer is not the first head of government to address those affected in this way. There have also been official apologies from governments in Wales, Scotland and Australia in recent years. According to British media reports, demands for compensation payments are now expected. (sda/dpa)