TORY MSP Jackson Carlaw was hopping foot to foot yesterday over a major scandal – after the number of dancers in Scotland fell.

A survey published in October found the number of people who dance regularly has halved since the SNP came to power at Holyrood in 2007.

The information comes from the Scottish Government’s annual Scottish Household Survey.

Yesterday, Carlaw said the dance-floor drop from 14 per cent to seven per cent is proof that “the SNP has sapped the energy from people’s feet”.

The change was said to be particularly surprising given the popularity of TV shows Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing on Ice, which, of course, features ice-skating.

It is not known if Carlaw is a fan of the programmes, or if he himself practices ballroom or ice-dancing.

However, referencing the biggest dance craze of 1923, he said: “If ever proof was needed that the SNP has sapped the energy from people’s feet, this is it.

“It’s clear thousands of people right across Scotland are worn out by the nationalists’ narrow-minded constitutional wrangling and grievance agenda. You could say the Scottish Government has been doing a Charleston all this time.”

An SNP spokesperson responded: “This is ‘strictly’ nonsense – as usual, the Tories are out of step with opinion in Scotland, and are set to be left reeling at the election in May.”