The Prime Minister met with campaigners on Thursday ahead of an official apology in the Commons.
By Steph Spyro, Deputy political editor and envionment editor
Keir Starmer meeting campaigners impacted by forced adoptions (Image: Getty)
Women whose babies were taken from them wept as Sir Keir Starmer apologised for the historic forced adoption of children. The Prime Minister branded the scandal a “stain on our history” during his official apology in the Commons on Thursday. He said that what happened to “tens of thousands of mothers, children and families, should never have happened”.
The Labour leader added: “It is a stain on our history. Mothers, many young, vulnerable and without support, were coerced, bullied, or misled into feeling that they had no choice but to have their children taken away from them. What a thing to do. These were not isolated or accidental acts, they were practices embedded within systems across local authorities, across voluntary and faith-based institutions, and in health and social care services, including parts of what is now the NHS.”
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Sir Keir said: “All institutions that operated with power over people’s lives, yet they did so without compassion, without consent, and without dignity or proper safeguards. These practices were particularly prevalent between 1949 and 1976, but also extended beyond those years.”
Reform UK’s Sarah Pochin spoke publicly for the first time about her mother putting a baby up for adoption, saying it was a secret she carried “to her grave”.
The MP for Runcorn and Helsby broke down in tears in the Commons as she spoke about the difficulty she faced in finding her brother.
She said her mother was pressured into giving up a baby for adoption in a process “handled by the church”.
The Prime Minister spoke of Ms Pochin’s “huge courage” in sharing her story.
It is believed an estimated 185,000 babies of unmarried mothers were adopted in England and Wales between 1949 and 1976, though Sir Keir said he fears it “may be more than that”.
Ms Pochin said: “My own mother was pressurised into giving up a baby for adoption, and this was handled by the church. I only found out after her death – she carried her secret to her grave.
“When I found out, I tried to find my sibling, but drew a blank. I had to pay privately to find him, and we’ve now been united. Can the Prime Minister assure those affected that the new systems and resources will be given the funding they need to reunite families?”
Responding, Sir Keir thanked Ms Pochin for sharing her story, while she was comforted by DUP MP Jim Shannon.
The Prime Minister said: “She’s shown huge courage in saying that in the chamber today, and the way she described her mother taking the secret to her grave is very powerful and an example of the way in which some people simply feel they can’t talk about this and didn’t talk about this, and where they’ve passed will never now be able to talk about this, so she shows great courage in speaking on her mother’s behalf as well.
“I’m glad that there has been that reuniting, but it can’t be the painful journey that she’s just described. We have to do better than that, and we will.”
Labour MP Tracy Gilbert also held back tears as she spoke of her own experience of being adopted.
Echoing the words of the Church of England’s lead bishop who issued an apology last month, Sir Keir told the women in attendance: “The shame was never yours, the shame is ours.”
Some of those in the House of Commons gallery were seen to wipe away tears as the apology was delivered.
Sir Keir, who met with the women impacted by the scandal on Thursday, announced the Government is funding a national online resource to help people locate adoption records relevant to them.
He warned some information “may not be retrievable”.