Starmer issues apology on forced adoptions, but Labour still failing families

British prime minister Keir Starmer issued an apology on Thursday July 2 for the state’s role in forced adoptions over multiple decades. It rings hollow, however, given the man anti-poverty campaigners christened ‘Kid Starver’ continues to fail British families.

Forced adoption is the practice of taking a child from parents without their full consent, and transferring that child to a foster family. The British state funded the system which between 1949 and 1976 resulted in the forced adoption of 185,000 children. It was often mothers who had given birth outside of marriage who were victims of the cruel practice.

Social norms at the time meant there was an unfair stigma attached to these women. That resulted in families, doctors, and churches deeming it appropriate for children to be raised with an adoptive family, rather than their biological parents.

Starmer, who long resisted dropping the family-impoverishing two child benefit cap, told parliament:

The shame is not yours. The shame was never yours. The shame is ours.

And I say that on behalf of the whole country, I say it to every single person impacted, we are deeply and profoundly sorry.

Apology doesn’t go far enough

A House of Commons report published in March 2026 highlighted the suffering of those affected, and their demand for an apology. The Church of England (C of E), which operated mother and baby homes, has already issued its mea culpa, doing so in June. Families and doctors pressured women to enter these heartless places, where they could then have their ‘shame’ hidden away from society and be stripped of their children.

In the Commons report, mothers testified regarding the horrible treatment they endured:

When I went to the [Mother and Baby] home, it was like a punishment: the whole time I was there, my role was to scrub steps from morning until the evening. When I got to the bottom, I was told to go back to the top and do them again ….

When I went into labour and into the hospital, I was given nothing for pain because I was told, “You will remember the pain because you’ve been a bad girl.” I had an episiotomy and I was stitched without any local anaesthetic. Every time I moved, the doctor slapped my leg. This was an NHS hospital in January 1967…I have never felt more worthless in my life.

Experts said there was little meaningful consent from mothers about parting from their children. Dr Michael Lambert of Lancaster University described how:

…consent was pretty hollow, vacuous and meaningless throughout.

This was due to “the power held by the state, social workers and religious bodies”.

Children separated from their mothers – now adult adoptees – also gave testimony in the report:

For me, being separated at the point when attachment, identity and safety should have been forming, there was a loss there, but that was never acknowledged. We were not allowed to express it; we had to bury it and get on with our lives.

Forced adoption stripped me of my identity. I had my name changed, I had no family or medical information, and I grew up with people who did not mirror me physically or otherwise. I felt alien throughout my childhood, and that is a feeling that persists …

When I met my family, I could not believe that they actually did want me. They looked like me, they sounded like me, they had the same sense of humour as me. I realised that I wasn’t alien any more, but I was in my early 50s when I finally plucked up the courage to do that, because I had been told I was unwanted.

Adoptee hammers Starmer’s support plan

Starmer unveiled what seems a miserly £4 million over three years to support those affected. This will apparently:

…go towards helping people access their adoption records via the Coram BAAF charity, fund intermediary services like Family Connect that helps people reconnect with family members, and research and testimonial projects to document the long-term impact on people’s lives.

Adoptee David Batty criticised the plan, saying:

…the details are sketchy and there appear to be some significant gaps in the proposals.

He pointed out that better access to adoption records may mean little in light of historically poor record keeping. Batty also cited the failure of the government to give adoptees “the right to revert to their original identity.” Many want to pursue this course after suffering abuse in adoptive families.

In addition, he highlighted the current system for adoptions, which he described as “in crisis”. Yet another victim of the austerity policies maintained by Labour, “morally and economically nonsensical” funding cuts are pushing adoptive families to “breaking point”. One more example of never being willing to spend a penny to save a pound, Labour is ensuring they continue to let down children:

…already massively overrepresented in criminal justice statistics, in not in education, employment or training statistics.

The social and financial costs of that are far greater than the few quid needed to properly support families who adopt children.

Similarly, the damning findings of the Ockenden Report show families are being failed by government health policies. The report focused on maternity care at an NHS Trust where large numbers of babies and mothers were harmed due to poor practice, often stemming from racism. Charities said this echoed what they commonly hear about treatment of mothers today, meaning Labour has not properly addressed the concerns raised.

Such policies show Labour might be happy to issue honeyed words for historic misdeeds the current government had nothing to do with. It isn’t willing to materially act today, however, to meaningfully improve outcomes for families still devastated by years of government miserliness.

Featured image via the Canary