Shrewsbury student nurse's petition goes to Commons
A petition launched by a Shrewsbury student nurse has been discussed in Parliament.
Kat Barber, known as Kat Webb before she married last month, started the petition against threats to bursaries for student nurses.
The nurse began the campaign and gained support from across the country with more than 150,000 signatures.
Controversial plans were unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne in November last year that bursaries worth up to £20,000 for future nurses and midwives would be axed and replaced by loans. He also promised to create an additional 10,000 nurse training places within the next four years in the hope that the NHS will become less dependent on foreign staff.
The Government said these spaces could only be funded by stopping the bursaries, which cover accommodation and living costs, and replacing them with loans. But Mrs Barber said it would make nursing a less attractive vocation for many.
The petition was discussed in a pre-debate discussion forum before the House of Commons debate in Westminster Hall.
