Speeches by Starmer.

“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 courag…”

“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 t…”

“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 tha…”

“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 i…”

“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 m…”

“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, bu…”

“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 t…”

“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.”

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

“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…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her campaigning on this issue. In both respects, we have to find a way of providing memory to those who lost their lives. To those mothers who passed away before today, this took too long. As a result of that, they are not hearing this apology. We need to be clear: that is an additional injus…”

“I thank the hon. Member for raising the case of Jenny, Scott and Alfie. I assure him that if he provides the full details, I will ensure not only that the relevant meeting takes place, but that we look at the details of that particular case.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for the way in which she draws attention to the suffering. We absolutely have to make sure that compassion is there in everything the state does. We can change rules and processes, but it is a culture; it is about recognising that human dignity matters whoever you are and wherever you are. If tha…”

“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 hi…”

“We are setting up a national advice line. It is important that it is national, available and comes in different forms. Digital will work for most people, but not necessarily everyone. We need to make sure that everybody affected and everybody who has not come forward yet finds a way to get that support in the appropria…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for drawing attention to the anguish that the mothers must have felt, and the constant sense of shame that was inflicted, including on the adult adoptees; they described that to me this morning. The message of being unwanted is really hard. As they said to me this morning, it is not something you…”

“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 alt…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for raising the case in Belfast that concluded last week and, like her, salute the courage of the victims to come forward. It must have taken extraordinary courage; it does in every single one of these cases, but particularly when they involve powerful people and institutions, it takes even more c…”

“I am very proud of the fact that after net migration reached almost 1 million under the Conservatives, we have brought it down by 82%. The hon. Gentleman references the asylum system; asylum decisions are being made at record levels, the backlog is down, removals are up 41% and we are closing asylum hotels. The Conserv…”

“We are determined to transform mental health services so that everyone gets the support they need. I am pleased to say that we have recruited 8,700 extra mental health workers. We have opened the first of six 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres and ensured that nearly 800,000 more children and young people have ac…”