Former health secretary Wes Streeting also threatened to launch a leadership contest if the prime minister did not set out a timetable to step down Earlier this year the Commons education committee said the government should issue a formal apology to victims of official policy in England in the mid-20th century to require some women to give up children for adoption. Jessica Murray reported at the time: Between 1949 and 1976, an estimated 185,000 babies were taken from unmarried mothers and placed for adoption in England and Wales owing to a culture of shame surrounding pregnancy outside marriage. Religious organisations ran most of the mother and baby homes where pregnant women were sent to give birth, while charities and local authorities were also involved in funding the placements and finding adoptive parents.