The divisions between Labour in Scotland and at Westminster were laid bare last night when former first minister Henry McLeish was attacked for his views on devolution by one of his own former aides.

His call for a more open approach by MPs to Holyrood's powers, made in a new book published yesterday, was described as "confused" by a senior aide now working for the Scottish Secretary, Des Browne, who comes in for ferocious criticism in Mr McLeish's book.

The call by Mr McLeish for Labour MPs to make a more constructive contribution to Alex Salmond's "national conversation" was firmly rebuffed last night.

Mr McLeish and veteran political journalist Tom Brown argue in a new book, Scotland: The Road Divides, that 10 years after the referendum success Labour should be leading the way once more in embracing further constitutional reform.

They are particularly scathing of Westminster's response to the debate. "The response from the Scottish Secretary Des Browne and the Scotland Office to the white paper shows how out of touch Westminster is with the prevailing mood of Scotland," they write.

The authors note that the initial response was to point out that Westminster could take back powers from Holyrood. "Such a statement - which reads to sensitive Scots like a veiled threat - is a major own goal for the government."

The book adds that Mr Browne "again demonstrated Unionist inflexibility by reaffirming the view that devolution was an event not a process'."

The book suggests that the language used by Mr Browne, such as "an isolated Scotland where we become strangers to ourselves" was symptomatic of "woolly thinking about devolution by those who put such words in the mouth of UK ministers". But the aide to Mr Browne said: "Unfortunately, Henry McLeish seems to be confused in his attack on Scotland Office ministers.

"The SNP's national conversation is a stalking horse for independence and was condemned as such by the three main opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament.

"The Secretary of State for Scotland has make it clear that he is willing to work with anyone to promote the interests of Scotland in the UK and it is unfortunate that Henry chooses to misrepresent this position to get some publicity for his book."

The book lays out all the options for how Scotland could develop but Tom Brown, co-author, said: "Getting involved in this book was a result of frustration at the failure to learn the lessons of the May election and the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election.

"It's great having a national conversation. I'm all for it. But I don't see why the agenda should be set by Alex Salmond and the SNP."