IN years to come, the debate will still be raging over who was to blame for the public sector cuts which began to bite in 2011.

Was it David Cameron’s Coalition Government recklessly cutting the deficit too quickly and deeply, or was it the fault of the previous Labour administrations of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown for breaking the bank.

Whatever the answer, the reality is that tough and unenviable decisions are having to be made by public sector organisations.

As Durham County Council leader Simon Henig described it yesterday: “The old world is over. This is the new world.”

Councillor Henig was speaking as the county council axed free transport to faith schools, despite passionate opposition.

Elsewhere in today’s paper, we report how paralympic hopeful Lyndon Longhorne, 15, handed in a 4,000- signature petition, pleading with Durham County Council not to close the leisure centre, in Crook, where he learned to swim.

The clear irony is that last week we had local authorities across the country announcing plans aimed at ensuring there is a nationwide legacy from the 2012 Olympics.

The overriding directive from the Government is to increase participation in grassroots sport.

Lyndon, 15, is a young man who has captured thousands of hearts by becoming a champion swimmer despite losing his legs and an arm to meningitis as a baby. He symbolises the Olympic spirit.

The fact that he is now fronting his local community’s fight to retain its leisure centre shows that the “new world” is full of contradictions.