Scotland's most senior Orangeman will forego his usual role heading up his organisation's biggest day of the year to observe proceedings with the police.

Scotland's most senior Orangeman will forego his usual role heading up his organisation's biggest day of the year to observe proceedings with the police.

Ian Wilson, Grand Master of the Orange Order in Scotland, believes spending the day with senior Strathclyde officers watching tomorrow's rally in Glasgow will provide a valuable and instructive perspective on how parades impact on policing and communities.

Mr Wilson will attend a briefing in the morning of the parade and is then expected to accompany officers maintaining public order.

It follows an invitation from the Scottish Executive after officials from the previous administration attended the Glasgow Battle of the Boyne' parade in an observational capacity in the past two years.

The move is being seen as an indication of further modernisation within sections of the Orange Order, with Mr Wilson being a long-time vocal critic of hangers-on' at the organisation's parades.

It has also been praised by former first minister Jack McConnell, whose legacy many believe is the movement to address sectarian divisions.

Tomorrow's parade will see 180 lodges from the city area and 63 bands march from Blythswood Square to Bellahouston Park via the new Clyde Arc bridge. A further 120 lodges and 60 bands from Lanarkshire and Stirlingshire will also rally in Hamilton.

However, although the Order has reduced the number of parades in Glasgow by 40% in the past three years, there is concern within its ranks that the change of rallying venue from Glasgow Green will triple the time the march will be on the streets.

Mr Wilson said he had no ideas of what to expect or any particular agendas.

He said: "It's part of the responsibility of people who run parades to get as wide a view as possible. There's no particular reason other than it being instructive as to how the police see things."

He added: "In past years our parades have been blighted by the behavioural problems of some young people fired up on cheap alcohol.

"I expect nothing but best behaviour, dress and deportment from our members."

Mr Wilson, largely seen as a modernising voice within Scottish Orangeism, has headed up a number of initiatives, including the pact with Irish republican groups to ban bigots from parades.

The Orange Order, as part of its own internal audit, instructed lodges to ensure anniversary parades were no longer annual and were kept to every five, 10 or 20 years. There has also been a tidying up of feeder parades, with bands and lodges now encouraged to meet at a particular point.

However, the move to Bellahouston, at the prompting of the city council, has led many within the organisation to believe it will take the criticism if tomorrow's parade has a disruptive impact.

But a council spokesman said: "When anyone requests to march in the city we work with the police and the orga-nisation to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum and we will do just that this weekend."

Last night the executive welcomed Mr Wilson's acceptance of its invitation.

A spokeswoman said: "We are pleased the Orange Order has accepted this invitation and are sure this will help the flow of constructive dialogue between our organisations."

Scottish Labour leader Jack McConnell said: "I welcome further efforts by organisers and the police to continue working together to ensure peaceful marches."