Between 1949 and 1976, an estimated 185,000 babies were taken from unmarried mothers and placed for adoption in England and Wales
Starmer said what happened to the mothers, and their children, should never have happened. He said:
What happened to them, and to tens of thousands of mothers, children, and families, should never have happened. 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.
I have to confess, as I said to them this morning, I found it hard to read the testimonies and to hear their stories.
I find it particularly hard, as a dad. How much harder it must have been for them to go through that, to set out their testimonies and tell their stories over and over again.
