News round-up

Companies get NHS £20 billion

Private companies hope to glean £20 billion worth of business from the NHS.

A new report by Catalyst celebrates how recent contracts demonstrate that “leveraging the private sector’s ability to invest capital… is necessary for the government to reduce costs.” Meanwhile, the NHS faces £20 billion cuts.

Cable makes it easier to sack

Bosses will be able to sack workers more easily under plans announced by business secretary Vince Cable. The Lib Dem deputy leader also claims that compensation for unfair dismissal stops employers hiring people.

Woman jailed over abortion

A woman has disgracefully been jailed for eight years after carrying out her own abortion. She took drugs ordered from the internet because she had passed the threshold for a legal abortion.

She had her first scan when she was 30 weeks pregnant. The legal abortion limit in England and Wales is 24 weeks.

Cuts axe school breakfast clubs

Some 40 percent of local authorities have cut breakfast clubs because of budget cuts. In Surrey just 1,200 children received a free breakfast this year, compared to 2,870 last year.