Historical Forced Adoption

Tracy Gilbert Excerpts

Thursday 2nd July 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

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.

[Tracy Gilbert (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab)]

As an adopted person born in 1972, I welcome the Prime Minister’s statement today. I have no idea if my birth mother felt forced to have me adopted, but I do know that prior to the birth, she was in a Church of Scotland mother and baby home. My adoptive parents have since died, but I am sure that they would not have wanted to adopt any child who had been forcibly removed from their mother. Does the Prime Minister agree with me that mothers should be supported by the state to look after their children and not forced to give them up?

[The Prime Minister]

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.