The row over the future of HBOS intensified last night when a spokesman for the bank accused MSPs of using it as a “political plaything”.

Three MSPs - Alex Neil (SNP), Margo MacDonald (Independent) and Tavish Scott, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats - had earlier held a joint press conference to accuse the bank's board of failing in its duty to seek the best deal for shareholders.

Mr Neil, who has campaigned against the proposed takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB, is a supporter of Jim Spowart, the founder of the Standard Life and Intelligent Finance banks, who claims to be helping an international financial institution with a rival bid.

The Nationalist MSP said that HBOS should have contacted Mr Spowart to learn about his potential deal. He said: “[Their] fiduciary duty is to ensure that they get the best deal for shareholders. They have not explored any option other than the Lloyds TSB deal.”

He claimed that a rival bidder might have the financial power to require less of a capital injection from the Government, providing a better deal for taxpayers.

Mr Scott said he had met Mr Spowart on Tuesday in London with Vince Cable, the Lib Dems' shadow chancellor. They want Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, to give an “absolute assurance” that there is a level playing field for a rival bid.

Ms MacDonald said such a bid could save tens of thousands of jobs at risk under the Lloyds TSB proposal. However, both the Conservatives and Labour condemned the MSPs' comments as political posturing that risked undermining the only deal available to HBOS. Mr Spowart is now unable to comment as he has been told by the Takeover Panel that he should remain silent until any other deal is made public.

But an HBOS spokesman said yesterday: “HBOS is not a political plaything. We are a very substantial company employing 17,000 colleagues in Scotland and 70,000 across the UK. We need to be able to get on and do our business.

“We have a recommended transaction with Lloyds TSB, born of many hours of detailed discussions. We believe the transaction brings substantial benefits to our shareholders.”

An appeal for calm thinking was made by Gavin Gemmell, the chairman of Archangel Informal Investment, a network of private individuals known as business angels who last year invested £14 million in new companies in central Scotland. He said that he shared the dismay at what had happened to HBOS and RBS, but it was time to move on and deal with the new reality.

Mr Gemmell said Scots should not get misty-eyed about the loss of the Bank of Scotland. He said: “Both RBS and HBOS have not put much energy into small businesses over the last few years.

“When RBS took over Natwest in 2000, I think the sheer size of it perhaps moved their attention to bigger things than small business. A couple of years ago, HBOS seemed to have made a conscious decision to concentrate on bigger customers. Since then HBOS has been far less accommodating with smaller businesses.”

Mr Gemmell, who was chairman of Scottish Widows and a Lloyds TSB group board member in 2002-07, said that between first and second rounds of financing for start-up firms, a bank overdraft had been the usual way to bridge the gap. But now, even when assured that second-round finance was on its way, HBOS was refusing overdrafts.

Lloyds TSB and Clydesdale Bank had stepped in, keen to increase their share of the business banking market. He believed that if the Lloyds TSB-HBOS merger went ahead, HSBC and Abbey would also move in to compete for a share of the market.

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