You always know the winter’s creeping up on us when Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor appear on our screens on a Saturday Night.  My mother and my sister certainly don’t need to be encouraged to watch Strictly. They have always been fanatics of the show and its weekly BBC2 spin off.

This year my mother is quite honestly beside herself with excitement about the new series and I’m guessing she’s not the only lady of her generation who will be supporting a particular contestant.

“It’s Daniel all the way!” she proclaimed when she phoned me two minutes after the show finished.

Daniel O’Donnell, the Irish crooner, has joined the show. His appearance on Saturday night must have had his fans ecstatic and believe me his fans are truly fanatical.

Many jokes and parodies have been made of the Irish singer but he ultimately has the last laugh on them all. Ten million records, 20 UK albums and success in US has ensured that he is a household name not just in Ireland.

Daniel, as I pointed out to my mother, is so laid back he’s almost horizontal. He speaks with such a soft voice that by the time he finishes a sentence...I’ve become unconscious! None of which I will be mentioning again for fear of retaliation, mainly from my ‘Daniel-loving’ mum. To criticise him is to commit heresy given that he’s on a par with the Pope in her eyes.

On Saturday the interest was of course who he would partner. To great aghast, his professional dancer for the foreseeable weeks will be Kristina Rihanoff. She is a stunningly, sexy woman who is nick-named the Siberian Siren. Two of her past celebrity partners have fell under her spell and have ended their relationships with their partners. There will be no such shenanigans with ‘Saint’ Daniel, I can assure you!

Glasgow Times:

An oath to the people not to the crown 

I see Scotland’s only surviving Liberal Democrat MP, Alastair Carmichael, is facing a legal challenge to the legitimacy of his election. Petitioners from his constituency argue he has breached electoral law by issuing a statement that denied he had said something when in actual fact he had said it. How it all pans out will be interesting.

While accompanying Tommy to Aberdeen last Friday night and Dundee on Saturday morning I heard Tommy address these issues at his Solidarity meetings when he promised to introduce a Democracy Bill if he is elected next year. Among other things he believes all MSPs should be subject to a right of recall from the day after election so any who break clear promises or are elected on the back of blatant lies can be forced to endure a by-election as long as a constituency wide on line petition can attract at least 5 per cent of the registered electorate. So no waiting for four years to oust a politician who blatantly misleads the voters to get elected or who is exposed for telling lies to try and influence the outcome of the election.

He also wants to see an additional oath introduced. He feels many MSPs are actually compelled to lie in order to take up their seats currently. Every one of them has to swear an oath of allegiance to the Crown, to an unelected Monarch, despite their democratic and republican beliefs. Why compel someone to swear an oath to an institution they don’t believe in? Tommy wants an alternative oath to be on offer. An oath to serve and uphold the sovereignty of the people of Scotland not an oath to an ancient and unelected Monarch. I agree wholeheartedly.