Alex Salmond and Iain Gray yesterday clashed over council care charges - the topic which Labour had sought to make the defining issue of the Glenrothes by-election.

Alex Salmond and Iain Gray yesterday clashed over council care charges - the topic which Labour had sought to make the defining issue of the Glenrothes by-election.

As voters were turning out in Fife for a poll which would be interpreted as either deflating the Brown bounce or ending the Salmond honeymoon, the Holyrood exchanges carried an extra edge.

The leaders repeatedly clashed over accusations of council cuts in Fife. The exchange took on a personal edge when Mr Gray told MSPs: "I have to say the First Minister is no Barack Obama."

This drew the retort from First Minister Mr Salmond: "It's certainly true I'm no Barack Obama. The problem for Iain Gray is, he is no Jack McConnell."

Mr Gray then accused Mr Salmond of "effrontery", and highlighted the case of a wheelchair-using woman facing steep increases in charges for a community alarm.

But Mr Salmond defended Fife Council's record and reeled off a list of Labour-led councils which had home- care charges.

Mr Gray said: "All over Scotland, local authorities are struggling with the budgets they were given by the Scottish Government."

He cited Fife Council, where home-care charges had risen from to £11 an hour while £51 was being charged for home alarms which had previously been free to those needing them and shopping deliveries, previously free, now cost £7.

"Is that what the First Minister meant when he said he had given local government the flexibility and the funding to meet the priorities of our people?"

Mr Salmond said: "If Fife is our example, let's welcome the 10% increase in the education budget in Fife. Let's welcome Fife as one of the councils moving ahead with employing new teachers in this academic year."

The First Minister added: "Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, North Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, Midlothian and South Lanarkshire are the Labour-led councils who have home care charges."

Mr Gray quoted the case of Rose Ritchie, from Cardenden, who used a wheelchair after a spinal condition left her unable to lift up her head, claiming: "With some support, Rose manages to live alone and her community alarm is literally her lifeline. The SNP have changed that.

"On her tight budget, she simply cannot afford the new bill for £51, so this SNP Fife Council have set their debtor team on to her. Will the First Minister take some responsibility for the plight of Rose Ritchie and others like her in Fife and tell his council to call off the bailiffs?"

Mr Salmond said the Labour campaign in Glenrothes had been "totally lacking" in responsibility.

The Labour candidate had told a hustings meeting: "I have tried to reassure people but I don't know what the criteria are."

The First Minister went on: "If he had taken the opportunity to find out, he would know 1000 people who were paying charges under the Labour Party are now no longer paying charges under the SNP/Liberal administration.

"Yes, it's true that 8% of people are paying charges at the full rate on an income assessment. That's based on people's ability to pay. It's exactly the same position that prevails in so many Labour councils in Scotland."

Labour held a majority of 10,664 at Glenrothes but the SNP overturned a majority of more than 13,000 to win Glasgow East earlier this summer and, crucially 18 months ago the Nationalists won the Holyrood seat of Central Fife, which comprised 80% of the Westminster seat.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown travelled twice to the constituency to campaign in recent weeks and his wife was also used by Labour for campaigning, so a failure to hold the seat next door to Mr Brown's Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency would raise fresh questions about his leadership.

The credit crunch and international banking failures have overshadowed the contest and contributed to a "Brown bounce" in the polls which could be undone by a failure in his own backyard.

Labour candidate Lindsay Roy is headteacher of Mr Brown's former school, while the SNP candidate Peter Grant is the leader of the local Fife council.

LibDem candidate Harry Wills has campaigned for a 2p cut in income tax, while Tory Maurice Golden says a vote for him will send a "message of change" to Mr Brown.