This week

UK vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) is down for a third year. In 2016-17, 91.6 per cent of tots had the jab by the age of two, down 1.1 per cent on 2013-14. It means 56,000 tots aren’t protected. Rates dipped over now discredited fears it caused autism.

Legal permission will no longer be required before life-supporting treatment is withdrawn from patients suffering severe debilitating illnesses, a high court judge ruled. This is as long as doctors and relatives agree, and guidelines have been observed. More than 500 British women sought abortion pills illegally online in a four-month spell, a study found. They contacted an organisation that sends pills to women unable to have the procedure legally.