Alex Salmond dismissed yesterday the call by Wendy Alexander for an early referendum on independence for Scotland, suggesting that her credibility was at stake.

Scotland’s First Minister joined other party leaders at Holyrood in ridiculing the Scottish Labour leader for her U-turn and for engulfing her party in political turmoil.

In a heated First Minister’s Question Time, Ms Alexander had challenged the SNP leader to put a referendum Bill into next year’s legislative programme, which is due to be announced next week.

But Mr Salmond mocked Ms Alexander, making it clear that his party would not shift from its position of holding a vote in 2010. He said: “We’ll stick to what was laid out in the SNP manifesto on page eight and fifteen. While I would not say Wendy Alexander is the only problem the Labour Party has, I think quite convincingly after the last few days that she is not the answer.

“Week after week, Wendy Alexander comes and demands that we stick to the SNP manifesto – attacks us for not doing so. Now she’s telling us we shouldn’t stick to the manifesto and the 2010 date. Does she not feel her credibility on keeping manifesto promises is being somewhat damaged by this process?”

At the weekend Ms Alexander defied the demand by Gordon Brown to await the outcome of the Calman Commission, which she had proposed to look into a public vote on independence. Ms Alexander now believes a snap referendum would lead to a humiliating defeat for Mr Salmond, and she said yesterday that she was giving him “the opportunity to resolve the issue”. An-nabel Goldie, the leader of the Tories in Scotland, and Nicol Stephen, of the Liberal Democrats, believe that she has undermined the commission. Ms Goldie said: “Who would have thought that a Labour Prime Minister and a Scottish Labour leader would be the SNP’s greatest ally in breaking up Britain?” Mr Stephen said that Scottish Labour had become a “farcical floorshow”.

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