Labour fired all the ammunition they could - including David Cameron's own mother - in an effort to blow planned Tory cuts out of the water.

Perhaps fittingly, next year will be the 450th anniversary of the Battle of Chatham, and among the budget announcements at Medway's full council meeting last night was the decision to spend £50,000 to mark the date - celebrating one of the worst defeats in the Royal Navy's history.

But opponents to the Tory administration were more concerned with saving council children's services, and launched a broadside attack on the budget cut backs.

Even before the meeting began, councillors met with a 20-strong protest group which had gathered outside the St George's Centre, in Chatham, to demonstrate over a planned 35% cut to Sure Start Centre funding.

"Save our Sure Start!" was the cry, to which Medway's deputy Labour leader Teresa Murray added: "Even David Cameron's mother wants us to."

"They're presenting this as a new way to deliver the service but they are cutting the budget by 35 per cent," she added. "It means a lot of centres are going to have reduced hours.

"There'll be a central team of staff, not dedicated teams, which will lead to job cuts. There's 19 centres, 48,000 children under four-years-old, and the birth rate has risen every year for the last four years, so we really need early years provision."

Inside the council chamber, Medway Labour leader Vince Maple attacked the plans, saying: "I know countless parents who wouldn't have got by without Sure Start. Now the Tories want to bring that to an end - a move which will remove the safety net for Medway families. This will remove the 'sure start' that families deserve."

He pointed out that these cuts came amidst a campaign to tackle social deprivation, adding: "This is blatant hypocrisy from this Tory cabinet."

Cllr Maple took a chance to copy the parliamentary techniques of party leader Jeremy Corbyn, saying: "I have here a petition signed by a Mary Cameron of Oxfordshire..." and again pointed out that the prime minister's own mother was reportedly against the cuts.

And he added: "This proposal is a betrayal of children and families of Medway. That is the consequence of this decision."

Children's services portfolio holder Mike O'Brien (Con) briefly defended the plans for Sure Start, by saying he was happy to talk to anyone - including members of the press - about how and why the service will be maintained, but soon moved on to other 'success stories' such as the Youth Parliament (which Labour pointed out was being outsourced), Medway Try Angle Awards, and Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.

But when Cllr O'Brien was quizzed to elaborate, after the meeting, he could only say the plans for Sure Start involved "restructuring" management and staff.

"At the moment what we're doing is consulting with staff," he said. "I will explain all that when the report comes out in April."

The council has insisted the 19 centres will remain open, but will be arranged into clusters in an effort to continue providing services.

The Labour initiative was introduced in 1998, and provides help to families including drop-in sessions, activities, ante-natal classes and clinics.