Overview
- The prime minister apologised in the House of Commons on Thursday, July 2, 2026, telling surviving mothers and adoptees the removals were “a stain on our history.”
- Starmer said the practice was systemic across local authorities, faith‑linked institutions and parts of the health service and that the state bears responsibility for systems that enabled coerced adoptions.
- The government pledged £4 million over three years to fund record tracing, a national online resource to locate adoption records, family reunion support and improved NHS mental‑health access.
- Survivors and campaign groups welcomed the apology but continue to press for clearer eligibility, trauma‑informed counselling, a single centralised records system and a wider redress or compensation scheme.
- The move follows devolved apologies from Scotland and Wales, a June 2026 Church of England apology and a 2021 parliamentary estimate that about 185,000 babies were adopted from unmarried mothers between 1949 and 1976.