Keir Starmer MP: speeches

Speeches

• 2 Jul 2026 · National Audit Office · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That an Humble Address be presented to His Majesty, praying that His Majesty will appoint Michael Jary CBE to the Office of Chair of the National Audit Office from 10 January 2027. The chair of the National Audit Office plays an incredibly important role in our democracy. The role supports Parliament’s scrutiny of Government expenditure and safeguards the independence of the National Audit Office. At a time of continued pressure on public finances and household budgets, delivering value for money across Government is absolutely vital, so it is right that this appointment is made on the basis of merit and commands confidence from Members across the House. Michael Jary brings extensive experience of leadership, governance and public service. As the Government lead non-executive director, he provided independent advice and challenge across Government. His work strengthened the performance of the public institutions that all our constituents rely on. Indeed, his commitment to public sector effectiveness is such that since leaving that role he has led university programmes at home and abroad, challenging others to think about how leaders can deliver for the people they serve. Alongside his many years of service in public roles, Michael has also supported the work of various charities, including the King’s Foundation and the Fairtrade Foundation. Remarkably, he has still found time to pen four books. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a strong commitment to the values this office requires. I am confident that he has the judgment and experience necessary to fulfil its responsibilities and I commend this motion to the House.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for sharing her personal experience—it is obvious how hard that is. To say out loud, in a Chamber like this, things that are intensely personal and private, full of pain and grief, is really difficult. It is hard for some of us to comprehend just how difficult that must be, so I salute her courage and resilience, and all those who have spoken out. To have to speak out about something that is so intensely difficult over and over again is incredibly, incredibly demanding, but I hope there can be comfort not only in that you have been seen and heard because of it but in the fact that others will have the courage too to speak out about what happened to them. I thank her in that regard as well. We must keep up the support and the dialogue, and we will. I thank my hon. Friend again for her remarks.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising this. We are working with all those affected, and with the families. precisely on the issue of ensuring that all the relevant information is put together. It is a difficult job, because it is held in different places in different ways. I cannot stand here and pretend that all the information is available, and that we simply have to get it in one place. It will take a lot of work to get it all there, and some of it may not be retrievable, but we will do everything we can to ensure that it is as complete as possible, as quickly as possible.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for reminding us how important it was in Scotland as well. We have to work with the devolved nations on this. It is important that we do so constructively, positively and at speed, because everybody affected needs to know that we are all pulling together and that, where information and support is needed, it will be provided as quickly as possible.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I hope the apology helps those who have not felt able to talk about this to come forward. On one level, it is a matter of courage, but it is probably more than that. I was struck this morning by the example given to me of trying to read a story in a newspaper about these issues and covering it up, not wanting to be seen in public reading the story, out of a deep sense of shame. I have no doubt that some who have not spoken out feel that they cannot do so, because they cannot break out of that. I hope that today helps them and that making it clear that the shame is ours, and hearing of the courage of those in the Gallery and other campaigners, gives them the ability to come forward. That is important, because if they do, they will find support, and that talking to others who have been affected in the same way will give them a degree of comfort they probably do not have at the moment. It is very difficult for people who have shut these things away to come forward. It will take time, but I hope we have taken one step closer today.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right: the pain is felt every single day and carried by those affected, and we recognise that. I recognise also that today does not change that. Let us not pretend that all the pain is taken away by this apology; it is not. It provides a degree of justice and acknowledgment by the state, but I am in no doubt that those affected will, unfortunately, have to continue to carry that pain. We will simply do all we can to support them throughout, but nothing can ever lift the pain. We will do all we can to build on the apology given today.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend, and thank him for highlighting the example in his constituency. I suspect there are other examples in all constituencies. We would not be here today without the hard work of the campaigners. Let us be blunt and honest about that. Their work was not heeded quickly enough, in my view. I am glad that we have got to this day; it is an important day for them, but it is also an important day for us, because we need to recognise that this is about the state—how the state responds and how the state acts. It is important for all of us.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I do not want to go against the spirit of the hon. Member’s question, but I do have to say this. Too many of those who were adopted were told that they should be grateful for what happened to them, and too many of the mothers were told that they should be grateful that their children would get care they could not provide. That, in itself, was deeply hurtful—deeply, deeply hurtful. I am not suggesting that others did not try to do their level best, but this was not a situation in which anybody affected should feel or be told that they should be grateful for what happened. I am not disrespecting the hon. Member’s question; it is just that, having had the discussions I had this morning, I know that this is felt very, very deeply, so I must therefore say that from this Dispatch Box. Otherwise, I thank him for his question.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising those really important questions. We will work with her and others to make improvements and put the appropriate support, screening and information in place.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I can give that undertaking, and I thank the hon. Member for raising that important aspect. With each question, with each issue, we can begin to understand the very many ways in which the injustice—across a number of different fields and a number of different strands—played its part. For those who lost their babies altogether, that work on graves and on records is really important.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for the tone of his response and for welcoming what the Government have set out today. I also thank him for the care and attention that he has shown personally to this issue and linked issues. I genuinely believe it is so important that we speak with one voice in the House today, so that those affected know that this is an apology from all of us in equal measure and that the House is united on this issue. I thank him for speaking in that way, because the issue impacts not us in the Chamber but all those who have been affected. To know that the whole House supports the apology that has been given today, and how it has been given, is really important. On the hon. Member’s questions, we are looking at schemes. We are being guided by those affected as to the support that they think is most important to them, and we will continue to be guided in that way. He also asked about responsibility, which will be with the Department for Education. I am happy to provide him with further information as these things develop.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her question and for what she has done on this and on so many other issues. She is absolutely right that this cannot simply be a backward-looking exercise; we have to carry the principles that sit behind this apology into all the other instances when there is disrespect and a lack of regard for people’s dignity. If we commit to that, it will make the apology more meaningful, I am sure.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  Yes, we can and should say that, and I thank the right hon. Member for reminding us that this is not all about the past. If we mean what we say, we have to tackle the present as well. I was struck not just by the dogmatic adherence to views at the time, but the complete lack of empathy, the complete lack of feeling. That is something else. That goes beyond dogma; that is just how human beings treat each other. I have had examples described to me of individual human beings dehumanising other individual human beings, when they did not have to. They chose to act in that way, adding even more grief and pain to what was an awful injustice in any event. As for the uploading of stories, there will be the facility for testimonials to be there—obviously, only if people want to share them. We are looking at how that could be done.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for welcoming this apology, and I repeat just how important it is that we are united across this House, speaking with one voice. I thank her for saying that. The hon. Lady mentioned the long wait for an apology and for justice. It has been a double injustice. There is not just what happened, but then the fight, as is often the case, for acknowledgment of what went wrong. We got this wrong as a state. So often we circle the wagons and protect the decision makers and wrongdoers instead of asking ourselves the question, “Where is the injustice here, and how do we put it right?” That has to change, because it has happened in this case and others. I thank the hon. Lady for drawing attention to that. We are looking at mental health pathways, which are vital. We are looking at how they need to be tailored, trauma-informed and developed. We will of course continue the dialogue with all those affected, and with the Education Committee and the House.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  The 2010 apology was a solemn moment, and work continues to honour the legacy of that apology, just as work will continue to honour and follow through on the apology that has been issued today.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for all the work that she has done and led through the Education Committee, and I also thank all the members of that Committee. I heard about the testimony to the Committee and how difficult and harrowing it was for all concerned. She is absolutely right to thank those who gave their testimony and those who supported its work. My hon. Friend used the word “dehumanised”. That is the right word, although it hardly feels strong enough to me. To break the bond between a mother and a child is nothing less than dehumanising. It goes to an intense feeling that we all have as human beings. To break that bond is indescribably painful—even to describe, let alone to have gone through—so “dehumanising” is the right word. As I heard this morning from those in the Gallery, it is about not just the initial act and all the pain and anguish, but the everyday reminders, like when people ask, “Do you have children?” What a difficult and awful question to answer over and over again, and they have all had to come to terms with how they answer that question. It is a question that we might all hear or pose on a daily or weekly basis—it is such a simple, everyday thing, but it is so painful. That really struck me this morning, and there will be thousands of things like that across all the testimonies and stories. To my hon. Friend’s question about monitoring, that will be done by the Department for Education, and we will, of course, involve survivors as we go forward. I have no doubt that the Education Committee will want to monitor that itself and be updated on it regularly. My hon. Friend’s point about making sure it is widely known that support is available is so important. Many thousands of people will need the support, and they must know that it is available. As I said in my statement, I am acutely conscious that there are some who to this day have still not been able to speak about this. I hope that by making it widely known that support is available, some may feel able to come forward and get the support that they need.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising that really important issue. I am aware of the issues, and I will remake that commitment.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his contribution, his welcoming of the report and his comments about love. I have to confess that I do not entirely agree with what he said about judging people by the standards of the day. I understand the point that he makes, but I think that something as visceral as this is wrong according to any standards—then and now. I am not disrespecting the point that he makes, but I just personally feel quite strongly that to dehumanise someone in this way is hard to explain—whenever it happened, whatever the standards in place. Otherwise, I agree with everything he said.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her question, and for the work that she did as children and families Minister; she did a lot on this, and I pay tribute to her for it. She is right about the support that is needed, particularly specialist therapy; I am in no doubt about that. It is important that we are raising funding for the adoption and special guardianship support fund to £55 million. Across this House, we need to keep talking to those affected to make sure that we get this right.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  We have to tackle misogyny in all its forms, wherever it rears its head. It is here with us today, and as she rightly says, we have even heard of it this week in the Chamber, in various debates in which issues have been raised; these issues are constantly raised. It is important that we address this by looking at it historically, up to today, and then forward, in and across the board. I thank the hon. Member for raising it.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for sharing that personal story; we can see just how difficult that must have been, and she has shown huge courage in saying that in the Chamber today. The way she described her mother taking the secret to her grave is very powerful. It is an example of the way in which some people simply feel that they cannot talk about this, and did not talk about this. Those who have passed will never now be able to talk about this. She shows great courage in speaking on her mother’s behalf as well. I am glad that there has been that reuniting, but it should not be the painful journey that she has just described. We have to do better than that, and we will.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her work on the APPG and for her campaigning, and acknowledge what she has done. As for the number, 185,000 is a shocking figure, but I worry that it may be higher than that. I worry that there are cases that we still do not know about—those where the records are not available and where, as I say, some people feel that they still cannot talk. That rapid access to therapeutic support is hugely important and she is right to highlight it.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is absolutely right: there has to be tangible action, and it has to be streamlined, as he described. We need to work with the devolved Administrations. What we cannot do now is add a further injustice to all the injustices we have been describing, by doing anything that makes it harder from hereon in for people to get the support and information they need. We need to action what we are saying today, and we will do so.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  It is never too late to issue an apology for wrongdoing—I wholeheartedly agree with that, and I pay tribute to all those who have campaigned, including the GMB and other trade unions. My hon. Friend is absolutely right about what went wrong. The question that should have been asked was, “What support can we give you to be able to bring up your baby?” not the questions that were asked. If that question had been asked, we would not be standing here today in the way that we are.

• 2 Jul 2026 · Historical Forced Adoption · Hansard source

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  I know the testimony was really powerful, and I thank the Select Committee again for its work. My hon. Friend is absolutely right that we have to see and hear everyone who was affected—the mothers, the now adults who were adopted, but beyond that the extended families and siblings, and those who, sadly, passed before we reached today. If we are going to hear, if we are going to see, we have to hear and see everyone who has been affected by this, not just some of them.