THE Government has been accused of “offering a sop” to councillors by granting them a role in the health board replacement bodies while stripping them of their powers.

THE future of one of the country’s largest health boards has been thrown into turmoil after members refused to adopt its budget in protest over plans to drop politicians from such bodies.

DRUNKEN teenagers should “go home and stick their fingers down their throat, rather than waste valuable resources” at Accident and Emergency departments, a health board boss said yesterday.