Labour Assembly Members have issued a statement confirming their intention to support Alun Michael without question.

The move from the Labour group is in response to the possibility of a vote of no confidence in the beleagured First Secretary, which is looming ever closer.

The statement ruled out any possibility of a Labour-backed change in the Assembly leadership.

"There is absolutely no question of Labour Assembly members nominating or supporting any candidate for First Secretary other than Alun Michael," it said.

Plaid Cymru deadline

Last week, Plaid Cymru leaders set out a number of conditions the First Secretary must meet to avoid a vote of no confidence.

They told Mr Michael that he must get a written guarantee from the Treasury that all �1.2bn European Objective funds will come to Wales - and secure an extra �85m in matched funding for the first year.

Plaid AM's set a deadline of 8 February, warning that a no confidence motion would follow swiftly if the conditions are not met.

The First Secretary later told BBC Wales that Plaid was "living in cloud cuckoo land" if it expected that Wales would be handed �85m in the next couple of weeks.

Pressure builds

A strong attack on the Labour leadership from Ron Davies ten days ago increased speculation over the outcome of a vote of no confidence.

The former Welsh Secretary has since denied that he was trying to undermine Mr Michael's leadership in his criticism over the European funding issue.

Labour AMs have always maintained that Alun Michael is the natural choice as First Secretary.

However, the new statement points out that the Labour Party's own rules prevent them from nominating a new leader even if they wished to.

The Labour Group have also thrown down the gauntlet to the other parties and challenged them to put up an alternative leadership.

"We do not believe that people who voted Conservative or Liberal Democrat in the Assembly elections thought that in doing so they could be paving the way for a nationalist-led administration", the statement adds.

According to the Labour Group "a vote of no confidence would plunge the Assembly into needless turmoil....and only serve to undermine the serious job of governing Wales".