SO the cull of public sector jobs continues with no sign of stopping – in the near future at least.

Southampton City Council is the latest organisation to break the bad news to its workforce with another 137 jobs at risk, as we report today on pages 1, 6 and 7.

Yet opposition councillors fear this could be just the tip of the iceberg, with perhaps as many as another 600 being axed over the next three years.

The city council is far from alone though.

We also report today on pages 8 and 9 that Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service chiefs need to find £16m of savings by 2019, and admit that these are most likely to come from shedding jobs – including frontline firefighters.

You could be forgiven for thinking you have heard this all before – and you would be right.

While the politicians squabble over who is to blame and who would do a better job of slashing and burning, some of the neediest people in our communities are being left with reduced services or none at all.