Gordon Brown was yesterday accused of being "stuck in the Downing Street bunker" after it was claimed that there has been no personal communication between the Prime Minister and the First Minister for almost five months.

The accusation was made by an aide to Mr Salmond who said that Mr Brown had allowed contact to lapse, not just with the Edinburgh Government, but with the other devolved administrations in Cardiff and Belfast.

A letter from Mr Salmond in August calling for Joint Ministerial Committees to be revived has not received a reply from Downing Street, while the First Minister received no contact even at the time of the government losing personal data of 25 million people in the Child Benefit system, learning of this only through media coverage.

The aide to the First Minister said all personal communication had ceased, with Mr Salmond's telephone calls to Downing Street going unanswered.

He said: "Gordon Brown seems to be stuck in the Downing Street bunker. He isn't being communicative, but I suspect that isn't unique to Scotland.

"The First Minister wrote to the Prime Minister back in early August about reviving the Joint Ministerial Committees, which has gone unanswered."

The two leaders staged their first public handshake when they met in Belfast for a meeting of the British Irish Council in July. At the time Mr Brown insisted he looked forward to working with Mr Salmond - despite the fall-out from the acrimonious Holyrood election campaign.

That was seen as progress given that Tony Blair did not even speak to Mr Salmond to congratulate him on becoming First Minister, but since August all communication has dried up.

"It looks like a symptom of a deeper malaise in the Brown Government," it was claimed.

"The direct relationships between government departments in Edinburgh and London are actually very extensive and constructive, and of course it's only the disagreements that become news. The lack of communication is very much a 10 Downing Street centred problem."

Alex Salmond today issues his first Christmas message as First Minister, hailing a "remarkable year" in which people made the historic decision to elect the country's first SNP government.

"In the past eight months I have led that government which has shown a willingness to get to grips with the key issues in order to move the nation forward," he states.

"My government has been keen to work with other political parties to build parliamentary consensus around issues that matter to the people."

Citing advances such as a slimmed-down cabinet, moves to scrap student fees, prescription charges and bridge tolls, striking a deal with local government and winning the 2014 Commonwealth Games for Glasgow, he said ministers were determined to do more.

He added: "People don't want us to spend our time arguing with the government in London for the sake of it. They do, however, expect us to stand up for Scotland on important issues and to co-operate when necessary."