Good morning. Keir Starmer is clearing the decks in his last three weeks in office, and today he is going to settle one unresolved issue when he delivers a formal apology on behalf of the state to victims of forced adoption policies that were in place in the middle of the last century.
Between 1949 and 1976, an estimated 185,000 babies were taken from unmarried mothers and placed for adoption in England and Wales as a result of a culture of shame surrounding pregnancy outside marriage. The mother and baby homes involved were mostly run by religious organisations, but councils were involved in placing children for adoption.
In March the Commons education committee said the government should issue a formal apology. Its report is here, and here is Jessica Murray’s story at the time.
Read moreAnd here is the preview story from the Press Association ahead of Starmer’s statement today.
double quotation markSurvivors of historical forced adoption are to get the state apology they have spent decades campaigning for when Keir Starmer says sorry in parliament.
The prime minister is expected to stand in the Commons and acknowledge the harm caused when an estimated 185,000 babies of unmarried mothers were adopted in England and Wales between 1949 and 1976.
Starmer’s formal apology will come after he meets with campaigners in Downing Street this morning.
The joint committee on human rights (JCHR) called for a state apology in 2022, saying “the government bears ultimate responsibility for the pain and suffering caused by public institutions and state employees that railroaded mothers into unwanted adoptions”.
Mothers forced to give up their babies have previously described the harrowing experiences of having them taken away and the lingering feelings of shame, while adults who were removed as children from their mothers have spoken of a “harmful narrative” which long persisted that adoption had saved them.
It was confirmed last month by education secretary Bridget Phillipson that a long-campaigned-for apology was coming in relation to what she called a “shameful period in our history”.
The Westminster apology comes three years after administrations in Cardiff and Holyrood said sorry to people impacted across Wales and Scotland.
In Northern Ireland, an apology is also expected but not until after a public inquiry has been carried out, following a recommendation from a 2021 report on mother and baby institutions, Magdalene laundries and workhouses.
Despite the JCHR report recommending ministers apologise, the then-Conservative government in 2023 said while it was sorry “on behalf of society” for the way the women had been treated, it did not think a formal apology appropriate “since the state did not actively support these practices”.
9am: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, is on a visit related to his party’s policies on water companies.
9.30am: Peter Kyle, the business secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
Around 11.30am: Keir Starmer makes a statement to MPs including an apology to victims of the government’s forced adoption policy in the mid-20th century.
Afternoon: Kemi Badenoch is on a visit in Hertfordshire.
And, at some point today, Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, will publish a written statement on her response to part one of the inquiry into the Southport killings.
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