Stuart Hill (Captain Calamity) Forvik

[JohanofNess]

Stuart

 

I speak as an English person about to move to Shetland. What I find extremely distasteful is that you are not from Shetland. If those born, residing, etc., in Shetland decided to challenge it, so be it but it really gets on my nerves that you feel you have the right to do this (and by residing I mean prior to the protest and as far as I'm aware, you were not).

 

Quite simply Stuart, I regard you as an embarrassment to England; let alone anywhere else.

 

Chill out Stuart lives on Shetland can you wait til you move there before making enemies. And Stuart did live on Shetland prior to the Forvik venture.

 

I'm not defending him btw I'm just surprised at the level of disgust you're displaying to a guy you don't know in a place you don't live yet.

[Ghostrider]

stuarthill, if you are indeed he, you are also missing several points.

 

1) To achieve anything "positive" with your endeavour, you need to be taken seriously, and make some "progress" at some point. Thus far, almost a year since you embarked on your higher profile campaign, all you have succeeded in doing in the eyes of the majority is to have brought much ridicule upon a very serious subject, been ignored, and portrayed yourself as a figure or fun and a joke. The latter is your business, but the former affects each and every Shetland resident, past, present and future.

 

2) What you do on the bit(s) of land you exclusively occupy is again, your business. When you do things on land others also occupy, it becomes as much their business as yours. In the case of your Land Rover stunt, do you have the support/permission of the majority of Shetland residents to put and leave that vehicle there, do you even have the support/permission of the majority of Sandness residents? If so prove it. That bit of road you are cluttering up is as much the property of anyone else as it is yours, when you use it for the purpose it was intended thats fine, but when you use it for your own ends that's a whole other matter. Without the support of the majority of Shetland residents, you have no mandate to leave that thing there, and in doing so your behaviour is dictatorial, condescending and patronising, not to forget highly selfish. Sorry, but I for one do not want an individual with despotic tendencies who apparently openly ignores the basic principles of democracy, anywhere near the spearhead of any autonomy/independence movement.

 

3)The issue of whether the UK Government has or hasn't got authority in Shetland is hardly the point at this stage of the game, the fact is their authority has been accepted, either willingly or under duress for over 500+ years, and continues to be on a daily basis. I wholeheartedly agree with you that that authority was obtained, and maintained due to a number of highly questionable actions throughout that 500+ years, but that again is irrelevant at this point, what is relevant is whether current Shetland residents want to continue with the status quo or not.

 

You've been banging on about this for how long now, 6 years? What have you achieved in that time? From where I'm sitting, pretty much nothing. Nothing has changed we're still ruled from London and Edinburgh. Where is your local support? Its never been seen or proven, by all appearances and material facts known to the public, this whole thing is your own one man show. That is the net result of your six year's work, which suggest to me, one or more of three options:

 

a) You are pursuing a cause that has nowhere to go and no future.

 

You have no significantly worthwhile support or sympathy for your cause.

 

c) That the cause may be worth pursuing, and there may be support to take it ahead, but there are leadership issues preventing it from flourishing.

 

4) Perhaps you do not consider your holm a foreign domain, but as you have declared it a Crown Dependency while the remainder of Shetland remains under the authority of the governments in London and Edinburgh, it is how it is seen. The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are viewed in an entirely different light by most folk round here than say, the Isle of Wight or the Isle of Lewis. In declaring your holm a Crown Dependency you removed it from the grouping in most folks heads that includes the Western Isles, Orkney & Shetland etc and put it in the grouping with the Isle of Man, Jersey etc.

 

Yes, we are all well aware by now I think, that what you are doing can be done anywhere else in Shetland. Perhaps the reason why no-one else appears to be doing it is down to either a, b or c at 3 above. Just because you believe that what you are doing is the way to go, does not automatically mean anyone agrees with you, or even if they do, that they feel strongly enough to replicate your example. Which brings things back to your Land Rover, why not park it on the bit of public highway that's nearest to wherever you stay in Cunningsburgh, where hopefully the only person who may be inconvenienced by it, is you and yours. The problem with it where it is, or in any similar location, is that its bothering folk who don't want, or at least don't openly want anything in the slightest to do with your campaign. You talk about the UK Government exercising rights in Shetland that they, in your opinion don't have. You are exercising a right you don't have by placing that vehicle on land which is the property of everyone, without a mandate from everyone, and despite their objections. That, I think you will find if you consult a Dictionary, makes you a hypocrite.

 

5)

You may not think that’s important, but I do not like the idea of living under an illegal regime and will continue to challenge it until somebody gives me an answer.

 

I presume you have no inkling just how arrogant, patronising and selfish that statement is, or you'd never have posted it.

 

You came here 8 years ago of your own free will, a little help from mother nature excepted. You chose to stay, I'm sure that if the "illegal regime" bothered you that much that at some point during those 8 years you could have managed to scrape together the fare out. You chose to put up with the "illegal regime" so as to stay here, for whatever reason. Fine, that was your choice and right. You'd like to change the "illegal regime", again, fine, that is your choice and right. However, you've had 6 years of trying to drum up support to assist you in the regime change, and thus far any and all you might have is keeping its head well beneath the parapet. Which leaves everyone else wondering if indeed you have any support at all (See 3 a, b & c).

 

To put it bluntly, while you may not like living under an "illegal regime", you made a conscious choice to do so. You also made a conscious choice to try and change said "illegal regime", as is your right, but only insofar as it is done so as not to infringe on others rights who may not share your opinion, or have no opinion at all. Many people have chosen to move to Shetland, "illegal regime" and all, many more found themselves born here, you need to respect their rights too, some of both groups may well support you, but equally many don't.

 

It is arrogant and patronising to those of both groupings, who don't support you, when someone who moved here of their free will, with the "illegal regime" in place, and chooses to stay here of their free will, are relentless told year after year that you "don't like the illegal regime and are going to do something about it", it adds insult to injury when they have to endure your latest stunt, ie the Land Rover dumped in their midst without so much as by your leave. You only have a right to undertake your "disobediences" on property you legitimately occupy, and that which you have express permission to use. The public highway constitutes neither, and in taking you "disobediences" there, you have crossed a line.

 

Do whatever it is you feel you have to do on your own patch, and leave those who choose to stay out of it well alone.

 

I could go on, but I suspect I've already wasted my time.

[Styumpie]

The Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey etc manage rather well without our resources, so the arguments against us returning to our indipendance just don't hold water

For the life of me I can't understand you or anyone else with Shetlands best interest at heart objecting

 

+1

 

We would be far far better off independent, I just cant figure out why some are so against it, Once the UK goes into complete meltdown folk might change there minds

[manxman]

even the Isle of man has income tax, and if you combine their income tax and National insurance they pay a few more percent than we do(UK)...

Eh? Personal taxes here are certainly not higher in the UK, as the following comparison shows:

 

Personal allowance: UK £6475, IOM £9200

Income tax rates: UK basic 20%, higher 40%, top (from 2010) 50%, IOM basic 10%, higher 18%

National insurance: 11% between lower and upper limits, 1% above upper limit (shortly increasing by 0.5%), IOM 10% between lower and upper limits, none above upper limit

Capital gains tax: UK 18%, IOM none

Death duties: UK 40% above £345,000 allowance (£690,000 for couples), IOM none

 

However, you are correct about the high property prices here: I believe the average property here is £285,000, compared to around £155,000 in the UK. Long term, we probably need to consider a dual property market, like Guernsey, or some form of residency controls like Jersey.

[Ghostrider]

The Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey etc manage rather well without our resources, so the arguments against us returning to our indipendance just don't hold water

For the life of me I can't understand you or anyone else with Shetlands best interest at heart objecting

 

+1

 

We would be far far better off independent, I just cant figure out why some are so against it, Once the UK goes into complete meltdown folk might change there minds

 

1) Lack of leadership material. (You seen the SIC lately )

 

2) Independent = "Calamity", it would take a lot of hard work by a PR company to get the image straightened out.

[stuarthill]

Stuart

 

I speak as an English person about to move to Shetland. What I find extremely distasteful is that you are not from Shetland. If those born, residing, etc., in Shetland decided to challenge it, so be it but it really gets on my nerves that you feel you have the right to do this (and by residing I mean prior to the protest and as far as I'm aware, you were not).

 

You should pay road tax, everyone else does.

 

I felt exactly the same when I started to get involved in all of this about seven years ago. Surely this must be a job for a Shetlander? Since then so many Shetlanders have told me that they really appreciate what I'm doing and that few Shetlanders could do it. I'm not saying that I have any special qualities, but the fact that I am an outsider means I don't have to get the approval of people I've known for my whole life before taking some action. It is the nature of a community like this that everybody has some kind of relationship with everybody else and that sometimes makes it difficult for them to be activists within their own community.

If I was not paying road tax simply to not pay the money, I would hardly do it in such a public way. Read my website: http://www.forvik.com

[stuarthill]

so where do the Islands get their income from?

even the Isle of man has income tax, and if you combine their income tax and National insurance they pay a few more percent than we do(UK)...

http://www.iomguide.com/taxation.php

 

Tax Freedom day in the UK is around 2nd. June. That's the day when you finish paying the government and start putting money in your own pocket. In Shetland, half the money we pay in taxes goes to the UK Treasury, from whence some goes into the black hole of the EU, pays for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and so on. The other half is used to support our way of life in Shetland. I don't object to paying taxes, but I would like to have more of a say in what they're used for. If Shetland had more autonomy, we could make those decisions and pay a lot less tax.

[Ghostrider]

Since then so many Shetlanders have told me that they really appreciate what I'm doing and that few Shetlanders could do it.

 

That's easy to say, but we just have your word for it, I'll reserve judgement until you provide more tangible proof if you don't mind. Are you sure you're not misquoting a little here though, shouldn't "few Shetlanders could do it" actually read "few people would do it". Most folk have better things to do with their time than make themselves in to figures of fun and ridicule. If any Shetlander actually said "few Shetlanders could do it" you've obviously been keeping company with the eternally downtrodded and pessimistic variety, who are not representative of Shetlanders, nor do they speak for them.

 

I'm not saying that I have any special qualities, but the fact that I am an outsider means I don't have to get the approval of people I've known for my whole life before taking some action. It is the nature of a community like this that everybody has some kind of relationship with everybody else and that sometimes makes it difficult for them to be activists within their own community.

 

Oh, please! You cannot be serious. Maybe this is how folk live in Cunningsburgh, or wherever else you've been hanging out, but round here folk do exactly what they please without even finding out what their neighbour thinks, never mind expecting approval. Which probably accounts for all the nose to nose mud slinging at every boundary, but thats another story.

 

BTW, if you are really serious about getting a reaction from Plod or whoever, why aren't you using it for your personal transport and driving it around Shetland. Its not seen by many and easily ignored by the powers that be in a layby on a back road on the westside. The whole thing could be said to be a half-hearted cop out as is really.

[Guest Anonymous]

If Shetland had more autonomy, we could make those decisions and pay a lot less tax.

 

The only thing wrong with this point is that, under the present local government in Shetland, certain rules are forced on the SIC by the UK government and the EU. If the SIC were allowed to spend as they wish, without such restraints, taxes would have to be higher.

Remove the current Shetland leadership, elect honest responsible persons in their place, and there might be a chance. But given that honest responsible politicians, local or otherwise, are like hen's teeth, I think it's better to have the status quo.

[stuarthill]

Your sheer arrogance is outstanding Calamity, it really is. Why leave that heap in Sandness? Why not Lerwick? Or indeed where you live......Cunningsburgh?

It was my intention to take the Landrover to Lerwick, but it was immediately obvious when I picked it up that it might never make it, so I'm afraid it was Sandness. Sorry if you find yourself offended by it.

You've been in correspondance with those people have you? Or have you just sent off a few petty letters with no reply?

Actually, yes. You can read the whole correspondence (if you can be bothered): http://www.forvik.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=35&Itemid=82

 

Oh, and as for your money being wasted on such things as the bridge or the VE project.....I thought you didn't pay your taxes? Make your mind up Calamity.

If you read what I wrote I think you'll find I'm referring to what Shetland pays in taxes.

 

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[stuarthill]

If, as you say Stuart, the number of dissenting remarks on your website is only 2%. It would be interesting to know what percentage of remarks on your website are from Shetlanders, about 2% perhaps ??

Difficult to say, just as it's difficult in this forum. At least I know that most are from the UK and Shetland. There will be very few from abroad.

[nederlander]

Well I'm sorry that you think it's acceptable to dump a vehicle at the side of the road, at an unsafe corner (despite what you claim). God help you should someone injure themselves as a result of your pathetic plea for attention.

 

Oh, you did get letters back, it seems they have deemed your stupid little series of stunts to be worth as much time and attention as the rest of us, very little indeed.

 

I have yet to meet anyone that thinks what you are doing is of any worth to Shetland, all you are doing is embarrassing the rest of us and feeding your own ego.

[Ghostrider]

It was my intention to take the Landrover to Lerwick, but it was immediately obvious when I picked it up that it might never make it, so I'm afraid it was Sandness. Sorry if you find yourself offended by it.

 

....and the cop outs keep coming.

 

The "cause" of course not being "important" enough then one would assume, to even make it worth trying, on the equal basis that it "might just make it". I mean, so what if it died on the way, it would have been no more of a nusiance wherever it stopped rolling than where it is, and heading for Lerwick, regardless of how far you got would have been someplace that got the attention of far more of the public, and Plod.

 

Sorry, but it all comes off a being a cheap small scale publicity stunt, undertaken with minimal risk, and not a serious challenge to anything.

 

I take it you're not aware of the maxim "If a job is worth doing, its worth doing right". This whole thing has all the hallmarks of a "when I'm in the mood" unimportant hobby to fill time in retirement.

[stuarthill]

The problem with your arguement, as i see it, is that if Shetland was never officially Scottish/British then it remains Norweign and I don't see Norway arguing about the status of the island. Call it 'Grandfather Rights' or whatever, Scotland has taken responsibility for the islands for hundreds of years and Norway hasn't been at all interested.

 

If Norway decides to retake the Island in some kind of Falklands style conflict then there may well be some questions to answer but as they seem happy to acknowledge Shetland as part of the UK there is nothing to argue about.

I have written to Queen Sonja to find the official position from a Norwegian angle, but have had no reply.

Since the greater part of Shetland at the time of the pawning was owned by landowners ruled by an elected monarch and the rights of those landowners have now been passed down to Shetland's present landowners, the conclusion could be drawn that it's up to the present landowners how they want to be governed. So, it becomes not so much a matter of what Norway wants, rather what Shetland wants. There is something to argue about if Shetland wants to argue.

The UN charter certainly provides for any people to have the right of self-determination: http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/chapter11.shtml (Chapters 11 & 12).

[stuarthill]

well we watched the program, and within 10 mins of Mr Hill's bit, we had a seriously worded complaint heading off to the BBC complaints department. We felt it more than a tad disturbing that agencies such as the BBC would actively encourage people to throw funds at this fraud in payment for citizenship of an island he does not own and the owner wants him removed from. *

 

 

We strongly feel the BBC did not do their research correctly and have made a huge and embarrasing for them, blunder in giving Mr Hill viewing time.

First of all, don't believe everything you read in the press. This situation is the subject of ongoing negotiations that I do not want to prejudice. Nobody disputes that I have a signed and witnessed document transferring ownership to me. You must ask yourself why I would spend my own and other peoples' money on the project if I thought there was anything unreliable about the document. I have acted in good faith throughout. I would ask the moderators to remove any unfounded defamatory remarks such as the above.

 

* (**mod edit - the ownership dispute was reported in the media - http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2009/03/06/war-of-words-over-forvik-after-island-owner-reveals-it-was-gift **)