THOUSANDS of internet users have shared an article claiming Prime Minister David Cameron is "blissfully ignorant" of the impact of cuts, after the Oxford Mail revealed a letter he sent to the county council.

George Mobiot, the prominent environment campaigner and Guardian columnist, said the letter laid bare Witney MP Mr Cameron's "detachment from the consequences of his actions".

In the letter to Oxfordshire County Council leader Ian Hudspeth, the Prime Minister criticised “unwelcome and counter-productive” plans to close children’s centres, as well as other cuts to other frontline serivces such as libraries.

Mr Hudspeth sent back a six-page response defending the plans, pointing out they were part of cost-saving measures to save millions after the Government almost halved the council's funding.

He said the local authority had to make an extra £50m of savings and accused Mr Cameron of “inaccurate” comments.

In his article published this morning, Mr Monbiot said of the letters: "Have you ever wondered how the prime minister sleeps at night? How can he live with himself after imposing such gratuitous pain upon the people of this nation?

"Well now, it seems, you have your answer: he appears to be blissfully unaware of the impact of his own policies.

"Cameron’s letter seems to confirm the warnings issued by the National Audit Office a year ago: that the government had only a 'limited understanding' of the savings local authorities have to make.

"It blithely assumed that councils could make their savings through restructuring, without discovering whether or not that was true.

"It failed to assess their budgets as a whole, overlooking, for example, the funding of libraries and youth services, about which Cameron’s letter complains.

"No wonder he hasn’t the faintest idea what is going on."

The letters were revealed on Friday but were sent in September to Oxfordshire County Council leader Ian Hudspeth, who told the Oxford Mail: "I don’t want to comment on leaked private correspondence that wasn’t intended for publication. 

“What I can say is that these letters are part of an on-going discussion with government about how we can protect frontline services while doing our bit in Oxfordshire to tackle the national budget deficit – a government policy that I support."

A spokesman for Mr Cameron said: "There is still significant scope for sensible savings across local government to be made by back office consolidation, disposing of surplus property and joining up our local public services; we will be discussing with Oxfordshire how this can be taken forward to help protect frontline services.”