David Cameron's mantra during the coalition Government's austerity drive has been: "We are all in this together."

The problem is that scepticism is rife about whether that is really the case.

On our front page tomorrow, we look ahead to the potential impact of next week's public sector strike over job losses, pay freezes and pension cuts.

More than 100 schools in the North-East and North Yorkshire have already cancelled all or some of their lessons next Thursday. Colleges and universities will also be affected, as will other public sector organisations.

Meanwhile, the former chief executive of Cleveland Police Authority, Joe McCarthy, has walked away with a £362,000 redundancy payment.

And Caroline Llewellyn, solicitor to Cleveland's Chief Constable has received a £213,000 pay-off.

The revelations on Teesside coincide with the announcement that Network Rail's former chief executive, Ian Croucher, left the company with a compensation settlement of £1.6m.

These are figures that sit uneasily with what is happening to the vast majority of people across Britain as the country is asked to fix the deficit.

There is no suggestion that these are illegitimate payments. They are within the rules but they stick in the throat.

The next time Mr Cameron tells us we are all in this together as public sector cuts sweep the country, he should question whether it is right that so much from the public purse is being splashed out on remarkable golden goodbyes to senior officials.