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The Shetland Dividend


Colin
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Total Respect to Ali Inkster for stepping forward - it's not an easy thing to do in Shetland to say the least. 

 

Fair Play to Stuart Hill too because he has stuck to his guns all along by saying the powers are not Scotland's or the UK's to give. 

 

You're right Colin, watching the Our Islands Our Future campaign was like watching Oliver Twist going to the draconian Master and asking "please Sir, can I have some more?".

 

You can bet your last pound, once the referendum is out the way every hollow promise will be renaged on......  

Edited by Kavi Ugl
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You're right Colin, watching the Our Islands Our Future campaign was like watching Oliver Twist going to the draconian Master and asking "please Sir, can I have some more?".

 

Likewise the housing 'debt'(?)

 

They owed us 40M.  Our negotiators came away effectively owing them 20m..  Couldn't make it up could you.  It's time we stopped sending 'boys against men'.

 

We still have a few boats.  Why not blockade Sullom Voe for a few days.  That would set the fur flying..

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This article is often referred to as a guide for application of martime law of the sea boundaries around the United Kingdom and their interaction with Norway and Denmark.

 

http://www.ejil.org/pdfs/12/1/505.pdf

 

Draw your own conclusions from the guides of different rules that could be the basis of a negotiation strategy.

OK, I bit the bullet and read it.

 

Lots of 'equidistant', continental shelf,agreement etc..

 

My own conclusions..

Everything north of a median line between Fail Isle and Orkney (unless Orkney decides to come with us), west of a median line between us and norway, south  of a median line between us and faroe and, west to a distance of 200 miles is ours.  Quite a sizeable lump of real estate.

 

If we were independent, it would follow that the UK or Scotland could lay no genuine claim to that little lot.

 

Shetland has been raped by Westminster, raped by the EU and would be raped again by Holyrood.  Do we really want that?

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It will not be a straight line, it will curve up to keep the MEDIAN to the East. Still, no guarantee that Shetland Independent Traders could take over the existing revenues without some sort of compensation and expensive infrastructure guarantees.

Edited by shetlandpeat
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Two Norwegian articles on Scottish independence

 

http://blogg.aftenbladet.no/eurobloggen/2011/12/15/skottene-de-nye-skandinaver/#.U2FCTlepAV-

 

http://www.nrk.no/hordaland/shetland-vil-bli-norske-1.11690694

 

Translation of the first link

 

The Scots , the new Scandinavians

Hold on the kilt , it blows the northerly winds over Scotland. While David Cameron is trying to pry the UK out of the EU , Scots draft a request to become a member of the Nordic Council.

Rumors reached the BBC this week: The Scottish government is exploring opportunities for closer ties with the Nordic countries if the people say yes to independence in the upcoming referendum . " How Scandinavian is Scotland ? " , Asked the BBC . Surprisingly a lot, it turns out.

The kilt is Norse

Geologically , the country was once part of the Nordic landmass. The inhabitants of the Scottish islands have more Nordic DNA than other Britons . The Scots still says " bairn " for children , " kerk " for church and " midden " for midden ( junkyard ) . They live in Dingwall , Lerwick and Tinwald which are old Nordic names. And , hold on to her skirt again : Kilt comes from the verb " kjalta " meaning " to fold " .

What more?

When the Liberal MP Jo Grimond from Orkney and Shetland was prompted by the bureaucracy in Westminister to enter the nearest train station , he said the truth , " Bergen , Norway " . The islands Grimond represents talked the language of " norn " , a variant of Old Norse , right up to the 18th century. So they were indeed a Norwegian earldom until we pledged them in the 1400s and never got wasted us to redeem the pledge .

Black night , black humor

Ian Rankin , the foremost exponent of Scots , gloomy crime - " tartan noir " - feel an affinity with Mankell , Larsson and Nesbø . " In countries that are dark half of the year , it tends to be strong narrative traditions . When I meet Scandinavian authors , we share a black humor and a sense that the world is horrible mess , "he said.

But is it enough?

It is time to bring in Jonas Gahr Støre . According to the newspaper The Scotsman had Støre few years ago polite request separatists in Edinburgh not to compare the struggle for Scottish independence with the liberation of Norway from Swedes. But nobody Dover ears than a Scotsman who does not like what is being said . The Scotsman wrote indefatigably that Norway is the country in the world where Scotland has the most to learn : " The first lesson is that the country's attitude , thinking and culture before independence created the new Norwegian government after 1905 ."

High North , including Scotland

Also Minister ignored his own warning. In 2009 he made a speech in Edinburgh ( " Obama - style " , wrote papers ), in which he assured the audience : " When I talk about the far north , I include Scotland. It 's a community around the North Sea based on old ties and current interests, where Scotland is with " .

There were words that scratched Alex Salmond ear. Salmond became Scotland's first minister after he led the Scottish National Party to a landslide victory in May. The party has promised a referendum on independence from Britain in 2014 . Yet the majority wary of going back to the state before 1707 , when Parliament the Union created the United Kingdoms , but people are moving .

Eager activist

One who pushes his countrymen against Norway and Scandinavia with all her powers, is Lesley Riddoch , real writer in both The Scotsman and The Guardian, doctoral candidate in the difference between Norwegian and Scottish cottage tradition ( Norwegians most cabins in the world, the Scots have the fewest in North Europe), and head of the think tank Nordic Horizons . Earlier, she made ??a documentary for the BBC about the Norwegian nature daycare , which she recommends Scots copy as a measure against the relaxing indoor existence.

Riddoch beckons like a Homeric siren : " The Nordic countries have the world 's highest level of confidence. Trust between people. Trust between people and politicians. They have the highest level of happiness among children. They also have a well-trained , healthy and progressive population that is relatively rare complaints "( The article was obviously written before the butter crisis) .

Nordic Horizons , the course Scottish politicians and opinion leaders about Scandinavian municipal autonomy , female quotas, oil, gas, and not least Gahr Støre 's heart : High North Initiative. In an article in The Guardian last week recommended Riddoch that Scotland applying for observer status in the Nordic Council , " if they are willing to have a limp reserve" .

Worse than Gaza

No Halt is because Scotland is not yet any fullbefarent and egalitarian Scandinavian welfare paradise. The German weekly newspaper Die Zeit recently visited the ancient Roman province of Caledonia , and found gold and filler interchangeably . While Edinburgh is the UK's second highest per capita income , in Notting Hill in London , the life expectancy in the eastern parts of Glasgow lower than in the Gaza Strip.

Scotland's partial autonomy gives also a little , shall we say striking effect : While English students have to pay up to 9,000 pounds a year in tuition fees , free trials are north of Hadrian's Wall. "Also, Germans , Italians and French can study for free in the golden Kaledon . Just do not Englishmen . They belong to the same state : They disagree kingdoms , "wrote Die Zeit . The article was illustrated with a picture of a wide -legged Alex Salmond against a background of red and green and yellow tartan , the title : " Where every Briton is regarded as a traitor ."

But where words Norwegians are old brothers and future partners. Monday wrote Alex Salmond a sharp letter to David Cameron in which he accused the British Prime Minister to have damaged Scotland with his veto : " Last week's events in Brussels demonstrates how important it is for Scotland to have a voice at the main table when our vital interests are discussed. This can be achieved through becoming an independent member state , instead of being locked out . "

Should we take it as a sign that the EEA is not as enticing as the Nordic Council ?

 

And the second

 

 

Shetland part of Norway

It is shorter to Bergen than Edinburgh, says secessionists in Shetland. Now they will again be part of Norway .
Off
Per Christian Magnus
Adalheidur Oldeide
Journalist Adalheidur Audardottir Oldeide
Riyas BabuNRK
Journalist Riyas Babu

Published today , at. Updated 8:03 today , at. 8:10

- Oh God , yes ! We will have it much better with Norway than with the Scots ,

says Alister Inkster in the Shetland independence campaign NRK.

One week after the Scotland vote on independence from the United Kingdom , working

the former Norwegian islands of Shetland, Orkney and the Hebrides now to secede

from the UK and Scotland.
- Need independence to survive

In 400 years until around the year 1500 was Shetland, which is located in the

North Sea between western Norway and Scotland , part of Norway .

- And when did Shetland be independent , but under the Norwegian crown, says independence campaigner Inkster .

The islands are located 350 kilometers west of Bergen, while located 210 kilometers north of the Scottish mainland.

Now gearing Inkster and several other political groups in Shetland , Orkney and the Western Isles to a referendum on independence in September .

    
- The only way Shetland survive the post-oil era , through its independence ,claiming Inkster .

For today recognized two thirds of the British North Sea oil ashore in Shetland.

A country in growth

Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde , a professor at the University of Bergen,  knows Shetland history very well. He tells of a country that has changed much over the last 30 years .

    Most people here do not see its roots in England or Scotland , but in Norway .
    Stuart Hill


- For those who were in Shetland in the 80s and currently travels back , it's a total change. They have modernized and updated throughout their island community .

They have simply made it an attractive place for stay, says Sunde .

Also people moved from Shetland have declined. It's actually the first time in almost 150 years that the population has increased , he said further .

Sunde believes frustration in Shetland about the lack of understanding in Edinburgh and London.

- Distance from Shetland to Norway as big as Shetland to Edinburgh. The special conditions in Shetland are not better understood here in Norway than they would be in Edinburgh.

Sunde - WILL become problematic : Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde at UIB believe Shetland will have major problems as an independent state . - Photo : University of Bergen

/

- WILL BE problematic : Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde at UIB believe Shetland will have major problems as an independent state .

Think an independent Shetland will have problems

According to Sunde 's Shetland addicted to attach themselves to another community that can offer things such as specialized health services . He firmly believe Shetland as an independent state would have major problems.

- In reality, no larger than Shetland island of Stord planning a. Shetland simply lacks many of the features we expect from a state.

    ALSO READ : Will reopen ferry between Norway and Shetland

Malcolm Bell is chairman of Shetland's local parliament. He stands not behind the requirement of independence. He does not want independence , but rather more autonomy.

- We will have the ability to take decisions on behalf of our own citizens. It is not good enough for us to be required important decisions taken in London , Edinburgh or Oslo for that matter . These decisions we must take himself, he says emphatically .

- A negotiation initiatives

It is September 18th that Scotland holds a referendum on independence from Britain. Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde , University of Bergen, believes demand for a referendum for Shetland and the other islands is primarily a smart card to play against the Scots .

- When they got the good landing Agreement for the oil it was because they were the most bone hard negotiators these oil companies had met. I think we should look at this as a bargaining initiatives from Shetland 's side .

Stuart Hill is among the prominent figures in the independence struggle . He wants an independent Shetland, with close ties to the North .

- It is among the Nordic countries our history is . Most people here do not see its roots in England or Scotland , but in Norway , he said.

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Interesting articles.

 

I was at the Our Islands Our Future public meeting and on the one hand I commend them for trying but on the other hand the lack of ambition was woeful.  I sat there and thought it was like Oliver Twist asking the bullying taskmaster "Please Sir, can I have some more....." and I sensed that they're afraid of something.

 

Gary Robinson did hint that there are things happening behind the scenes which they can't say about at this time.  It better be good is all I can say.

 

What they need to organise is a referendum with ALL the options for Shetland post 18th September irrespective of the Scottish outcome.

Edited by Kavi Ugl
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What they need to organise is a referendum with ALL the options for Shetland post 18th September irrespective of the Scottish outcome.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

I don't trust Gary Robinson et al to "do the right thing" and I really don't care for "things happening behind the scenes" particularly as it seems to be the privileged few who are negotiating/making decisions on my/everyone else's behalf.  This is supposed(?) to be a democracy and such negotiations will affect everyone's future and should be public knowledge so that we can all have a say.

 

What would happen if we ended up with a "poor" deal that was agreed by our councillors before it was put to the public?  Would we get to vote on it?  Unlikely I think...

What would happen if Denmark said "we want our islands back".  Pound to a penny says that we would get all the information that was available and we would also get to vote on it....

.

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