By Tom Gordon, Scottish Political Editor

IF HBOS had any lingering doubt that its planned takeover by Lloyds TSB had made it a political football, yesterday will have put it straight.

On the back of Sir Peter Burt and Sir George Mathewson's proposal to keep HBOS independent, politicians of all parties and none piled in to give their opinions.

The prospect of a rival plan which could save more Scottish jobs than Lloyds had been mounting since Wednesday, when LibDem leader Tavish Scott, Independent MSP Margo MacDonald and the SNP's Alex Neil jointly called for the Lloyds deal to be halted.

Yesterday's intervention was met with delight from the trio, but Labour and the Conservatives, who have so far regarded the Lloyds bid as the best option, were markedly cooler.

"I'm absolutely sure that the Lloyds TSB takeover will not take place," said Alex Neil.

"It's bad for everybody. It's bad for Lloyds TSB, it's bad for the shareholders, and bad for the economy. Labour and the Tories have been shown to be unable to rise to the occasion."

Margo MacDonald said a Lloyds-HBOS superbank would work against competition in the market and lead to unacceptable job losses.

"I'm really pleased that two guys with impeccable credentials have shown that there is a serious alternative to put before shareholders.

"With a large public shareholding in the banks, there is a public interest at stake.

"And the public interest would not be best served by unemployment levels of between 15,000 and 20,000, a disporportionate number of whom would be in Edinburgh."

Tavish Scott demanded the UK government give the Burt-Mathewson plan a fair wind.

"HBOS's non-executive directors also need to get actively involved with the emerging alternative to the Lloyds TSB takeover. My interest is in retaining Scottish banking jobs, headquarter functions and competition for customers and small businesses. Today's developments bring meeting that objective closer."

Alex Salmond, the first minister, who last week told the Sunday Herald he would go public if he felt a superior bid was available, said he was giving the Burt-Mathewson letter "the most careful consideration".

He said: "They are the two outstanding figures in the Scottish financial sector over the last generation, and therefore their views command great respect.

"The position of the Scottish government is very clear.

"We will respond to all propositions for the future of HBOS on exactly the same basis, which is - what they will mean for numbers of jobs, the extent of decision making and competition for business and personal customers in the wider Scottish economy.

"That represents the Scottish interest, which is paramount in our consideration."

Iain Gray, the Scottish Labour leader, chose not to issue a statement.

For the Conservatives, David Mundell, the Shadow Scottish Secretary, questioned whether a new bid would be dramatically better than Lloyds', and said his political rivals should stop interfering.

"I would welcome any viable option which gives protection to Scottish jobs. It is therefore up to anybody else who wishes to come forward to explain their business plan and whether it would protect more jobs and, equally crucially, how much it would cost the taxpayer. Would it be not a job less and not a taxpayer penny more?

"The HBOS board is considering the letter from George Mathewson and Peter Burt and it is right that they are given time to consider their response. It is wrong for any politician in the meantime to be meddling in this issue, especially in the absence of the detail of each and every option."

A Scotland Office spokesman said: "There is a major bid on the table which is being recommended by both boards, which is backed by money and addresses all the fundamental issues that HBOS faced.

"It is for the shareholders to decide."