Scotland Independence - What Should Shetland do?

[Kavi Ugl]

Ok, here's a subject to get folks thinking.

 

I was speaking with a friend on Saturday when I happened to mention a letter I'd read in The Shetland Times on Friday which suggested that if the present Scottish Government's attitude towards Shetland is an indication of what would come in an independant Scotland we(Shetland) should "vote" to stay with the "United Kingdom".

 

I made the comment to my friend that I wondered what made the letter's author feel that Westminster has treated Shetland any better than Edinburgh and that the best we could do in the event of an independant Scotland is take our oil and fishing and go for our own independance(yes, I know there's a lot to think about there!).

 

My friend then replied stating that "we should just go back to Norway" and it got me wondering if that would be any less "historic" than Scotland going for independance. Indeed, I remember thinking as I stood in Norway last year that this is where we belong and should be.

 

What about home rule under Norway?.

 

So my question is, should our elected representatives/SIC(i.e the Town Hall) be leading the way in exploring what we should do in the event of an independant Scotland and holding our own referendum to that end?.

 

What should the options be?.

 

I personally doubt very much that an independant Scotland will become reality but surely it would be wise for us to be making our own plans just incase....

[Guest Anonymous]

Shetland never voted for devolution as far as i can mind for starters, and as far as i know theres no way of shaking off scotland any more. Shetland is like a small boy being beaten by a big stick , and scotland is like a fat bully wielding said stick, mainly in my opinion because Shetland natives have come from non scottish ancestory and historically have been proud to be Shetlanders from Britain and have been quite difficult to beat into line. Although they are just about there now. Too late

[Ghostrider]

Independence would need a far better quailty of leadership to step up to the plate than has in quite a while, so until and unless that happens, that one stays of the back burner.

 

Staying with the UK, or going with Norway or Denmark even, if either of the latter two will have us, is infinitely preferable to being stuck with Scotland. The place will be milked dry ASAP, then abandoned, end of.

[Malachy]

Shetland never voted for devolution as far as i can mind

You've a short memory then. 62.4% voted in favour of Scottish devolution in Shetland in 1997. That was more than in Orkney, but less than most other parts of Scotland.

[hoosn]

Independence would need a far better quailty of leadership to step up to the plate than has in quite a while, so until and unless that happens, that one stays of the back burner.

 

Staying with the UK, or going with Norway or Denmark even, if either of the latter two will have us, is infinitely preferable to being stuck with Scotland. The place will be milked dry ASAP, then abandoned, end of.

as it has been all the time they been coming here yes, but my fear is that theres no possible chance of breaking free , over run now so theres no chance of voting our way out either , all we can do now is bite the pillow n take it, even the bending of statistics to suit

[Skunnered]

In reality I don't think there is much chance of Scotland getting its independence. I think the last election was more a revolt against Scottish Labour than a vote in favour of independence. The next Scottish election will be interesting, then we'll see just how much support the SNP really have.

 

As far as Shetland is concerned, I would personally hate to be part of an independent Scotland. I don't think we would be looked after very well. But here's an interesting thought. The SNP use the oil revenues as their main economic argument to justify independence. But as far as I am aware, if we use international boundary rules, then a very large part of Scotland's oil would fall within Shetland waters. That would put Shetland in a very strong negotiating position, because we could say that if we didn't get a decent deal from the Scottish government, we would elect to join up with Norway, or Westminster, and take our oil with us. And if we threatened to do that, it would tremendously weaken the SNP argument for Scottish independence.

[Guest Anonymous]

the uk have known in several centuries they have gotten off wi swindling Orkney n Shetland off the Scandinavians and i believe documents realeased under the 30 rule revealled westminster was worried about Shetland raising the nationality debate in the early 70s. That would have been the time , not now to kick off, the thin end of the wedge was then n its well in now. SNP are clearly showing thier colors now wi Northlink and the absence of a natural gas outlet here emphasizes this line of thought for starters, Central Scotland National Party indeed. As is likely these people riding roughshod over how things work in isolated small places , spieling off the great "i am" and relegating the locals as plebbs really wont go down well (scottish rule)

[Kavi Ugl]

Some interesting thoughts.

 

But should we really be so hard on ourselves?. If Scotland can go independant after X hundred years why can't Shetland take a similar step?. Infact, what have we got left to loose?. Our oil is being drained away by, and for the benefit of, pleebs in London who don't even know the correct name for Shetland(i.e "Lord Mandelson"- The Shetlands) and sooner or later the last Shetland fisherman will be forced/driven off our own seas. And what will we have left then apart from some salmon farming?.

 

No, I wouldn't be so pessamistic and infact under Norway I reckon we'd see investment in Shetland like we've never seen before.....

[Guest Anonymous]

neither england or scotland are giving a toss about Shetland or its folk , its conveient place to land oil n some military outpost use , but otherwise they dont care, some like to look at the pretty views n tell the folk how to live n criticise them , but they are no cairn either, just use the place to get any easy foot on a career ladder n away

[skaterboy]

if we cant vote our way out lets bomb our way out just lik da paddies

[whalsa]

maybe stuart hill shoodna get suy muckle o a slaggin a da time, at least hes tryin, dyaan aboot it in da rang wy maybe but still tryin

[Mutton]

A referendum on Scottish independence would be a fantastic thing for Shetland.

 

I personally don't think Shetlanders would want to go down the route of Scottish independence. It would be an ideal opportunity for Shetland to discuss its constitutional status.

 

Make no mistake. Scotland needs Shetland (for its oil revenues) to go forward. That places Shetland in an idea position on the negotiation table.

 

If Shetland makes noises about staying clear of Scotland if it votes 'yes' but Shetland votes 'no' to independence the SNP will come crawling to us for some sort of deal.

 

If Shetland did stay out of an independence, I would foresee a Jim Wallace Amendment type of deal with England - this would see us on similar terms to the Faroe Islands' relationship with Denmark.

[Njugle]

Last time around, Shetland was approved status to remain under Westminster, with a strong element of devolved power, if Scotland became independent after the referendum (1978?) However, Edward Thomason bowed to the then Secretary of State for Scotland and the idea was stopped, then subsequently the referendum was binned and the status quo remained.

 

It set a precedent though, Westminster was happy to have us do our own thing and keep clear of Scottish rule.

 

edit - (And of course, Scotland shat itself at the prospect of that.)

[Guest Anonymous]

scotland good for Shetland eh? man alive , heard it all now. Current pointers are the slashing of the ferrys (but not anybody elses as far as am aware) and the hogging of the gas supply from the westside. Open your eyes

[Njugle]

Who said Scotland was good for Shetland? (Not me, anyhoo)