UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will deliver a formal apology on behalf of the British state on 2 July 2026 for its role in historical forced adoptions in England and Wales. An estimated 185,000 babies were taken from unmarried mothers between 1949 and 1976, with many women pressured into giving up their children.
The apology follows years of campaigning by mothers, adoptees, and their families, and a March 2026 report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) that found government decisions had "shaped the environment in which unmarried mothers were often shamed and coerced into having their children put up for adoption." The committee recommended an urgent apology but stopped short of calling for financial redress.
Campaigners will meet the prime minister at Downing Street before his statement to the House of Commons. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson had confirmed two weeks earlier that a formal apology was forthcoming. The Church of England also apologised for its role in forced adoptions two weeks ago.
