Harman backs PM amid ousting rumour

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"What's in the best interests of the country is that we have a strong and experienced Prime Minister who's been one of the foremost finance ministers of the world over the last 10 years," she told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show.

"What would be wrong would be to respond to a very big economic challenge by turning it into a political crisis. Our responsibility is to focus on working at a national level, but also internationally, to make sure that we see the country through these difficult economic times," she said.

And Justice Secretary Jack Straw has insisted he remains "absolutely convinced" Gordon Brown should not be ousted at Prime Minister.

He publicly warned Labour MPs it would be a "big mistake" to plot Mr Brown's removal following reports his allies were preparing for an autumn coup.

Meanwhile, backbencher George Howarth denied being among a group of Labour MPs from Lancashire, where Mr Straw represents Blackburn, seeking backers for him to take over.

Mr Howarth said: "Jack is not up to anything. If anyone thinks I am collecting names for him, they are mistaken."

But he admitted MPs should think "long and hard" about the party leadership in the wake of the disastrous Glasgow East by-election defeat by the SNP.

As Mr Brown started his summer holiday in Norfolk, former cabinet minister David Blunkett said Labour rebels should "grow up" and concentrate on policy to improve the party's poor opinion poll ratings.

Mr Blunkett said: "We are not a hatchet job party like the Conservatives who can drop their leader literally at the drop of a hat. So grow up, don't go for what might be a popular quick fix that you couldn't actually put in place and let's actually combine in the way we know best and work out what will actually reach people."