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If Scotland became independant, what would Shetland do?


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There is also a mistaken belief that the rest of Scotland actively hate them when people in the rest of Scotland are simply getting on with their own lives.

 

Sad but hey ho. Most people in Shetland luckily aren't like this minority.

 

First, there's no such thing as "the rest of Scotland" when applied to Shetland.

 

Second, I wouldn't say that Shetlanders hate present Scots at all!. Most Scots don't even know where Shetland is.

 

In my own personal experience, and I stress my own personal experience, I have sadly found most Scots incomers to Shetland nothing but lumps of trouble. Many also can't or won't accept that Shetland isn't a little outpost of Scotland

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@NewMagnie, I wouldn't be so disparaging of Shetland's history or future!. The very fact that Scotland is having an independance referendum 300+ years after the Treaty of Union says that Shetland too can vote for change/go it's own way.

 

Remember Hong Kong.......?.

 

It's not a question of where it stops - that's not our problem anyway. This is about Shetland and in the next two years, when the SIC cuts are done and dusted, the true state of Shetland will be revealed.

 

Unfortunately, the SNP crave being in Europe which most Shetlanders and even Scots realise has been a disaster, especially for the fishing.

 

Land was the currency 500 years ago and what the King of Denmark did wasn't done lightly. Infact according to the Shetland Museum it's recorded that on no less than 7 times he tried to have the agreement honoured and redeem the lands and even sent delegations to Scotland about it.

 

I'm sure that it's in the/a United Nations Charter that people have the right to self-determination.

 

Not meant to be disparaging - merely realistic.

 

The UN charter says a lot of things and, globally, most of them are honoured more in the breach than the observance.

 

We "can" vote to go our ow way? Probably, we "can" do anything. Whether Edinburgh or London take a blind bit of notice of it is another matter.

 

Europe has been a disaster for the fishing? Hasn't done a great job, granted, but I don't see the fishing industry voluntarily adopting bigger mesh sizes, closed boxes or any kind of good husbandry of the sort practised in Iceland. I think the industry has to take a share of the blame too. (Yes, I know, doing that would mean they couldn't compete with the Spanish, etc, but still...)

 

The Highlands and Islands didn't do too badly out of Objective One funding back in the 90's. The SNP's desire to stay in Europe is wholly understandable.

 

Most Scots 'lumps of trouble'? No, don't accept that - my experience is different. (Although I do remember an Uncle of mine complaining that we "shouldna import ony mair ersehols - we breed plenty o' wir ain!")

 

Unforunately, the 'rest of Scotland' does apply - that's the current situation, like it or not and for all our Scandophile tendencies the links are strong. We support Scottish football teams, send our kids to Scottish Uni's, share a language, etc, etc. Not sure it would be such a clean break.

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^^^

Agree with NM here

 

If I remember correctly it was Westminster Tories that let Shetland have its present powers under the 1974 ZCC Act which was strongly opposed at the time by the Scottish Office and the Scots Labour MPs. But even with the obvious benefits that Act brought us we still need to be (or we think we need to be) heavily subsidised by Scotland to live in the way we do e.g. Ferries (external and internal) Air transport, Distant Islands Allowance etc, etc. It is just a shame that we didn’t have that level of subsidy in the 1950s and 1960s when we really needed it.

In fact we are much better off and have a far better quality of life than most of the folk in British Isles yet our elected clowns Cluness, Simpson and Wishart along with MSP Scott are still pleepsin poverty and making damn fools of us all at Holyrood.

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Unfortunately, the SNP crave being in Europe which most Shetlanders and even Scots realise has been a disaster, especially for the fishing.

 

 

The SNP line is that a Scottish team negatiating on behalf of Scotland would acheive a better result in fishing negotiations than the present English bunch. Remember Alec Salmond has been an MP for the North East of Scotland and is an MSP for the North East of Scotland.

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Shetland is part of scotland untill it is legaly declared otherwise but in all ohnesty the talk of scotland is pointless realy! scotland is not a soverign state the scots parliament has very few real powers not a great deal more than local govs have in other countries and its only been around for 12 years so who was shafting shetland for the other 290 of those years?

 

Go it alone if you want or stay with UK or come with scotland but dont sit and blame all youre ills on "da scottys" when its realy sausage all to do with them! there is no conspiricy against shetland youre the richest most spoilt county in britian youre own elected members consistantly let you down yet you still vote them in

 

A bad workman allways blames his tools

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....youre the richest most spoilt county in britian youre own elected members consistantly let you down yet you still vote them in

 

If we are, that only has been the case for the last 30 years, before that we were as near the other end of the scale. Shafted for the vast majority of those by Scots who took everything they could lay their hands on by fair means and very probably foul, then made damn sure they had their backs watched by their buddies back home, and that only the censored and sanitised version of their shenanigans got as far as Scotland, and never as far as England if they could help it.

 

Our own elected deserved a chance to see if they could do a decent job, and they possibly were deserving of a chance to learn from their own mistakes. They've certain had both, and they've blown it, and yes, its now past time to do something about it.

 

....and no, I most certainly did not.

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@ammo, you say a bad workman always blames his tools but that's the very point - we don't have any tools!.

 

Our tools i.e fishing, oil and local control of services have been stripped away by Europe, London and latterly Edinburgh.

 

We increasingly don't even have the tools to make a living and with fishing now reduced to the equivalent of 4 days per fortnight it's probably the final nail in the fishing fleet's coffin. But, hey, that's the EU ultimate aim....

 

:)

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well sir i realy dont much like the EU either or the snp for that matter i do like independent scotland but not the way the snp would have us do it.

 

I dont know anything about the fishing industry so i wont bother commenting on the CFP

 

I would just like to know where you think this scottish vendetta against shetland is coming from and give me some examples (i'm sure theres some)

 

Do keep in mind tho and this goes for ghosty aswell you will always get the rich "elite" who take anything they get there hands on by fair or foul in any society it would be the same under denmark and norway who both have royal families lords earls etc etc in any case all those evil scots who done these acts are almost certainly all dead now as are the shetlanders who experienced them!

 

The last 30 years of immense prosperity and very low unemployment hasnt done much to take the chip off some peoples shoulder there are many who see the scots how the irish view the english yet in both cases its not the 99% of scots/ english people who are like this view you hold.

 

Finaly scots were horrible to other scots aswell! a few wealthy men decided there was more profit in keeping sheep on the land than people there for the people were chucked off which we today call the highland clearances.

 

Still if you feel shetland is singled out by the entity that is scotland for the worst of all treatment then could you tell me of this as im very much interested in history and would like to learn more.

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To be fair we're not maybe facing a situation like what was happening 3-400 years ago when the "gentry" of Scotland were grabbing what they could by whatever means - usually by fear and violence.

 

However, I don't see Edinburgh offering Shetland the chance to run its own affairs, infact they won't even give control of water and sewerage services back to Shetland.....

 

What they should have been offering us instead of "offering" to take over ferry services was if we wanted control of and to run the north boats. That would be true devolution.

 

Is there a vendetta against Shetland?. Vendetta is perhaps too strong a word but I wouldn't trust the grey men in grey suits in Edinburgh as far as I could throw them and I'm afraid Edinburgh has shown itself to be as distant and colonial as London since devolution began......

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Well if thats want you want you need to ask for it and i mean realy ask with a political body who will stand in elections publish campaign material and attempt to get the whole of the shetland population on board this is what the snp done with scotland they were a nothing party until 1970.

 

Devolution for shetland can only happen with a referendum and yes everyone currently elegible to vote in uk elections will have a vote just as english welsh and northern irish will have if there is a referendum on scottish independence

 

I dont trust the men in grey suits but il bet they dont read shetlink and they wont offer it if they arent aware of the desire, remeber you have for 60 years returned a pro union westminster party with massive majoritys doesnt exactly scream home rule from the outside looking in.

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You ask if Scotland are attempting to plunder Shetland again--

 

Scottish minister asks Shetland for money to run a ferry fully in the knowledge that there is still some money in Shetland.

 

You might be aware that the same request has not been made to Orkney.

 

Is it the case that Orkney does not have the same financial reserves.

 

Question answered I think !!

 

True Shetland is a small place with small telephony requirements, small water supply requirements, small electricity requirements, small broadband requirements large sewage disposal requirement etc etc but, all could be done locally rather than being dependant upon a very foreign country for basic support.

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To be fair we're not maybe facing a situation like what was happening 3-400 years ago when the "gentry" of Scotland were grabbing what they could by whatever means - usually by fear and violence.

 

I think I might need to retract most of my words there....

 

I've just read the article by David Clark in this month's Shetland Life and it has reminded me that the OSCR shenaningans are just a ploy to undermine Shetland and grab our oil money.

 

So perhaps history is indeed repeating itself but in a modern way.....

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What they should have been offering us instead of "offering" to take over ferry services was if we wanted control of and to run the north boats. That would be true devolution.

 

 

I'm quite sure they would leap at the chance of us taking over the running of the North Boats. After all they would save themselves the £30 million or so they currently subsidise it with.

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