Several senior administration officials acknowledged that some Republicans were joining Democrats in suggesting that accountability for the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal should reach into the Pentagon's senior leadership.

CNN: Bush reaches out to GOP lawmakers

They point to a 2011 report from the federal Government Accountability Office that shows horse abuse and abandonment have been increasing since Congress effectively banned horse slaughter by cutting funding for federal inspection programs in 2006.

NPR: Okla. Governor Signs Horse Slaughter Legislation

The general secretary of the National Union of Teachers Christine Blower said: "This is quite an extraordinary abuse of position and power and confirms the NUT's fears about where the lack of accountability in academies can lead".

BBC: Education & Family

He said he did not want to see a repeat of the Winterbourne View care scandal that led to the conviction of six people for their role in abuse and neglect at the private hospital near Bristol, but for which he claimed there had been "no corporate accountability".

BBC: MP Paul Burstow urges care home abuse penalties for owners