Make no bones about it, the reality is yet to dawn over the public sector spending squeeze.

We had all been so well warmed up for today's Comprehensive Spending Review that not much of it came as any surprise.

OK, there was an extra £7bn in savings from the welfare budget, and a £3.5bn increase in public sector pension contributions, meaning that the budgets of Government departments weren't hit quite as hard as expected.

But it's still 500,000 jobs to come out of the British economy and the North-East will be hit particularly hard.

The devil's in the detail and the reality will only hit home when individual councils start confirming the implications of their funding cuts.

It's when theatres are being mothballed, leisure centres privatised and arts venues sold off that the controversies will really take off.

That's also when we'll see the political fallout start hotting up ahead of the local elections in May.

Who will the voters blame for the inevitable impact of the cuts on communities? The coalition Government which ordered such deep cuts? Or the previous Labour Government for overseeing the financial mess?

It'll be fascinating to see.

Meanwhile, many in the region will be wondering what the implications are for the Hitachi train-building project at Newton Aycliffe. The contract, which would lead to 8,000 North-East jobs, didn't get a mention in the Chancellor's speech.

I wouldn't read too much into that. Those close to the campaign weren't expecting an announcement today and a leading Government figure, just interviewed by my deputy Chris Lloyd, assures us that the bid remains very much alive.

Full story in tomorrow's Northern Echo.