DAVID CAMERON has been deluged with letters of protest over the government’s “ideological” crackdown on trade unions, the Morning Star can reveal.

At least 23,700 people have written to 10 Downing Street in opposition to the Tories Trade Union Bill.

The letters have been sent as part of an online campaign organised by Labour leadership candidate Yvette Cooper.

Some 6,000 people had sent letters within just three hours of the campaign’s launch in June.

Ms Cooper discloses the “staggering” response in an article for today’s Morning Star, calling it a “very powerful signal that the Tories can’t take the country for granted.”

“I can understand why so many people have taken issue with this proposed Bill,” she writes.

“This will render the right to strike meaningless and would remove one of the most important democratic rights a citizen has.

“David Cameron needs to know that we won’t let him attack trade unions and strip workers’ rights quietly.”

The Bill is being rushed through Parliament and the Tories are considering plans to stage a provocative second reading during TUC Congress in September.

If passed, the Bill would impose turnout thresholds on strike ballots — a breach of international labour law.

Workers could also face criminal charges for picketing, while bosses will be freed to bus in agency replacements.

Unions could even be required to give the police advanced notice of plans to use social media during strikes.

“The Trade Union Bill is a callous and ideological attack on workers’ rights,” states the model message sent by Ms Cooper’s supporters.

“Your government should drop this whole Bill completely.”

Ms Cooper, along with leadership rivals Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall, has pledged to repeal the Bill if she becomes Labour PM.

But Institute of Employment Rights director Carolyn Jones said they must also repeal Thatcher-era restrictions behind a “massive rise in insecurity and inequality.”

She called on all the candidates to commit to a Trade Union Freedom Bill.

Only left candidate Jeremy Corbyn has done so, pledging also to create a Ministry of Labour to oversee workers’ rights.

Ms Cooper is expected to use a speech today to criticise Mr Corbyn in a last-ditch bid to win back support before polling opens on Friday.