UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer formally apologized in the House of Commons for the British state's role in forced adoptions that separated unmarried mothers from their babies. The apology was delivered in Parliament with survivors watching from the House of Commons gallery (gdelt). Starmer said, "The shame was never yours, the shame is ours" (gdelt).

The forced adoption practice occurred between 1949 and 1976 and was overseen by the UK government and Christian churches or religious organisations (qatar, western). An estimated 185,000 babies were taken from unmarried mothers for adoption in England and Wales during that period (other, qatar, western).

Starmer said there is a "very strong case" for the British state to apologise for its role in forced adoption (nation.cymru). He described the practice as "abhorrent" and said it was hard to believe it could have happened (nation.cymru). The forced adoption practice lasted until the 1970s (triblive).