Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander today denied she had tried to bounce the Prime Minister into backing her call for an early referendum on Scottish independence.

The embattled Ms Alexander, who yesterday staged an apparent climbdown, denied misrepresenting his views.

"Where Gordon and I are at one is we want to expose the hollowness of the SNP", she said.

"I have the Prime Minister's support in pursuing whatever tactics are right in the Scottish Parliament.

"This goes to the heart of the devolution settlement."

Interviewed on the Scottish edition of BBC TV's The Politics Show, she denied an irreparable rift had opened between herself and Mr Brown, denied weakening his position, and said she had no plans to quit.

The interview came exactly a week after she set in train a process that convulsed the Labour party north and south of the border by saying she favoured an early referendum, challenged SNP First Minister Alex Salmond to "bring it on."

Mr Brown conspicuously failed to support her publicly, and yesterday she staged what appeared to be a climbdown, saying that as Labour was a minority party in Holyrood lacked the numbers to force the SNP's hand.

Where Gordon and I are at one is we want to expose the hollowness of the SNP Wendy Alexander

Ms Alexander claimed during the week that she had the support of Mr Brown but he today told the Sunday Telegraph he was "not persuaded" of the case for a referendum And Ms Alexander's brother Douglas, Westminster's international development minister said today he was "not convinced" now was the right time to hold a referendum.

But Ms Alexander argued that the episode had been a tactical success by flushing out the SNP, who have insisted that despite her call they have no intention of bringing forward their plans for a referendum in 2010.

"The big story is we called the SNP's bluff and they blinked," she said.

But rival parties have heaped ridicule on Ms Alexander.

Former Labour MP Brian Wilson said the full facts were not yet known but went on: "To commit to a referendum which ultimately only the UK government can deliver, without checking out what the UK government thinks when it is of the same party - I think carelessness would be an understatement."

Mr Brown has pledged to do "whatever is necessary" to preserve the United Kingdom in face of demands for Scottish independence.

The Prime Minister called for an alliance of pro-Union parties, together with business and trade unions, to come together to fight to prevent the break up of the UK.

His intervention In the interview Mr Brown defended Ms Alexander as an "excellent leader" of Labour in Scotland, but distanced himself from her call for a poll on independence, saying he was personally "not persuaded" of the case for a referendum.

"I will do whatever is necessary to ensure the stability and maintenance of the Union," he said.

"I will do anything and everything to ensure that the case for the Union, which has served Britain and the British people so well, is properly heard an advanced.

"I want all unionist parties and all parts of business - employers, managers and trade unions - to work together not only to push the case for the Union but to expose the dangers of separation.

"Some issues are bigger than party politics and need to be addressed in the common interest."