Sources say the Services unit will take the brunt of the layoffs in the forthcoming cutbacks.

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Reinsurers, the big firms that provide a safety net in major disasters, will take the brunt of the burden.

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To my point above about conflicting demands on Japanese CEOs, Tsuga apologizes for having made domestic operations take the brunt of restructuring.

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The education minister, Letizia Moratti, who like Mr Berlusconi threatened to resign, aborted the original plan, which was to force schools to take the brunt of the savings needed to finance tax cuts.

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Reels take the brunt of the brutality.

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Public spending should certainly take the brunt: there is plenty of scope to slim inefficient Leviathan, and studies of past deficit-cutting programmes suggest they work best when cuts predominate.

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