SCOTTISH LABOUR will try to move on from its shattering loss in the Glasgow East by-election by ditching former leader Wendy Alexander's policy of supporting a referendum on independence.

The three leading candidates to succeed Alexander - former Health Minister Andy Kerr, deputy leader Cathy Jamieson, and East Lothian MSP Iain Gray - are all opposed to backing a snap vote on breaking up the United Kingdom. Only Charlie Gordon, who also wants to become a candidate, is in favour of a referendum, while rank outsider Ken Macintosh MSP is unlikely to get the required support to stand for the internal contest.

Labour across the UK and Prime Minister Gordon Brown are in crisis after losing the Glasgow East by-election last week to the SNP.

But the Scottish party, which took the defeat particularly badly, is set for months of disunity when the race to succeed Alexander starts this week.

Alexander quit as Labour's Holyrood chief last month after the Parliament's Standards Committee found her guilty of breaking MSP rules on the non-declaration of donations.

Kerr, Jamieson and Gray are all thought to have garnered the six MSP signatures required to enter the race, while Gordon and Macintosh are still seeking support.

The Sunday Herald has established that the three front-runners are all opposed to Alexander's policy of supporting a referendum on Scottish independence - a stance she adopted to much criticism.

Kerr, who will launch his campaign later this week, was reported earlier this month as being in favour of a referendum, but it is understood he does not support a poll on separation and will seek to correct the speculation.

In an article for the Sunday Herald, he stated: "The truth is Salmond and his cohorts want to shatter Scots' confidence. Like a poisonous gossip, he whispers that the neighbours are out to get us - but if we stick with him, we'll be okay."

Jamieson will launch her campaign tomorrow in front of local activists in Ayrshire, and she too is known to be against the Alexander policy.

A source close to the deputy leader said Jamieson would "not be advocating" a poll on independence.

The left-wing MSP will instead focus on listening to the concerns of trade unionists and the party's grassroots.

Gray, who was Alexander's finance spokesman, also plans to ditch support for a referendum if he wins the contest.

In a statement released yesterday, he said: "To win back the trust of voters I believe we must make sure that we stay focused on what matters to them. By offering a fresh approach and by working together as a party, we can hold the SNP administration to account more effectively, regaining the trust of people across Scotland."

Meanwhile, Gordon, who solicited the dodgy donation that bedevilled Alexander's leadership, has broken his silence on the affair.

In a wide-ranging interview to launch his leadership bid, the Glasgow Cathcart MSP produced emails which appear to show he did not attempt to cover up the £950 donation from Jersey businessman Paul Green.

He said of Team Alexander's fund-raising strategy: "When we first started talking about fund-raising at one of Wendy's early campaign team meetings, somebody said get donations, and as long as they are under £1000 then people can retain their privacy and anonymity'."

On why the personal donation was registered in the name of a firm, Combined Property Services, he said: "I was asked a question, I think by treasurer David Whitton, who never explained why he was asking the question.

"He said, what's the name of Paul Green's Scottish company?', and I said Combined Property Services in Bath Street', because I knew he based himself there when he was in town.

"Nobody said to me, here's why we need to know the address of Paul Green's company'."

He was later cleared by the Electoral Commission of disguising the donation, of which he said: "Anyone who says I was involved in a cover up has got it wrong."