David Cameron's mum has joined the battle against Conservative cuts, it has emerged this morning. Mary Cameron's intervention after signing a petition to save childrens' centres has been splashed over the front page of the Daily Mirror. The headline: 'Cameron's mum fights Tory cuts' looks deeply embarrassing for her son. Is this a family rift? Is Mary Cameron trying to make life difficult for her son? The truth is less dramatic despite the excitement on Twitter, where the hashtag 'David Cameron's MUM', has been trending all morning.

After all, Mary Cameron is not the only member of the Cameron family to criticise her local council over axed services. David Cameron did it himself last year, writing to Oxfordshire Council saying he was 'disappointed' by planned cuts to frontline services'. In November, he hit out at reductions in funds handed over to elderly day centres, libraries and museums - sparking an angry response from Oxfordshire council leader Ian Hudspeth, who reminded him of how he worked hard to help him win last year's general election.

It may seem on face value that both Camerons are guilty of being rather brass necked by criticising cuts brought about, ultimately, by the Government. But with the cuts handed down to councils to carry out, even if the local authority has no real choice in the matter, it makes it easy for mother Cameron - or her son - to hit out at the council. After all, it is the council themselves who are the ones to actually swing the axe – even if it was the Government who handed it to them.