WHEN times are hard, you can usually be sure of one thing. The people feeling the most pain will be those whose lives were no bed of roses in the first place.

Bournemouth council decided yesterday to close the Dorset Enterprises factory on Elliott Road and make all 23 workers redundant.

The factory was said to be running at a loss of more than £400,000 a year. Many of those people will have to join the unemployment lines – along with former staff of Comet, Jessops and, most likely, HMV and Blockbuster.

Bournemouth council’s cabinet member for adult social care has said council cannot justify a large subsidy to Dorset Enterprise when it needs to help people with “substantial and critical” needs.

That seems to be the reality of life in 2013. If your needs are “critical or substantial”, the state may still help you. For everyone else in need, life is likely to get tougher.