FOR all that the expectation had built towards a momentous day, we had been so well warmed up for the Government’s spending review that there were few surprises.

Departmental budgets were not hit quite as hard as had been feared, thanks to an extra £7bn in savings being scraped together from the welfare budget and a £3.5bn increase in public sector pension contributions.

Nevertheless, these remain the biggest UK spending cuts since the Second World War – leading to nearly 500,000 job losses – and the North-East will be particularly hard hit.

The region will need all the help it can get, and we remain cautiously optimistic about the prospects for the Hitachi train-building factory at Newton Aycliffe following our interview with Business Secretary Vince Cable.

Beyond that eagerly-awaited Hitachi announcement, the devil is in the detail of the Comprehensive Spending Review and the reality will not hit home until local authorities begin to confirm the implications of their 7.1 per cent annual funding cuts.

We expect those details to begin leaking out in the next few weeks, and it is when theatres are mothballed, arts venues sold off and leisure centres privatised that the local controversies will really take hold.

The political fallout will also intensify ahead of local council elections next May. Will voters take the view that the coalition Government is to blame for the inevitable impact of the cuts on communities? Or will they blame the policies of the previous Labour government for getting us into such a financial mess?

It will be fascinating to see.