Labour leader Iain Gray today mounted a personal attack on First Minister Alex Salmond, claiming he had "lost the plot".
Mr Gray also described the First Minister as "The Problem - capital T and capital P."
He described Mr Salmond as "a banker who got it wrong on the banks, an economist who is getting it wrong on the economy - and a Scottish First Minister who is getting it wrong for Scotland".
The attacks came at First Minister`s Questions where Mr Gray quoted a newspaper report which said Mr Salmond had been accused of trying to bully a drinks firm over the SNP`s plans for minimum alcohol pricing.
The Daily Mail said executives at Pernod Ricard were "shocked" at what was described by Mr Salmond`s stance on the issue at a meeting in Paris last week.
Mr Gray said the First Minister`s behaviour had been described in the newspaper as "unwilling to listen to reason", "aggressive", and "extremely rude".
The Labour leader went on: "In fact, all the signs of somebody who has lost the plot.
"This is damning stuff.
"I don`t care whether the First Minister damages his own reputation, but I do care if he damages the reputation of Scotland abroad.
"Does he really think this is the appropriate way to represent Scotland abroad with companies who employ thousands of Scottish workers?"
Mr Salmond hit back by quoting from the Mail on Sunday which quoted Labour sources describing Iain Gray as "simply not visible" and lacking in big ideas, and talking of a leadership vacuum at the top of Labour.
The First Minister went on: "If Iain Gray is going to resort to quoting newspapers, he should be a wee bit careful as to which newspapers he wants to quote."
The Question Time clash also saw Mr Salmond and Mr Gray clash over criticism of the SNP by business bodies.
During the exchanges, Mr Salmond told MSPs that the Scottish Government had acted to save potential job losses with T-mobile in Larbert.
Mr Salmond went on: "We have acted to save these jobs - and I am even more delighted to tell Iain Gray that two weeks ago David Turner, the chief executive of that operation, was able to write to me saying there`s going to be another 170 jobs created".
Mr Turner had also praised "in glowing terms" the work of the Scottish Government in securing the jobs for Falkirk and Larbert, he said.
Last updated: 29 October 2009, 15:20
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