From BBC Scotland, today:
For some Orcadians, taking a ferry can be more like tackling an assault course. That was certainly my experience as a blind person travelling between the islands.
Last year, the Scottish government agreed with Orkney Islands Council’s request to look at the financial case to start replacing the inter-island ferries, which are vital lifelines for communities.
There’s no doubt that these ferries are outdated and unsuitable for the 21st Century. The big question remains: where will the money come from to replace them, and how long will it take?
Orkney Islands Council, the smallest local authority in Scotland, would be responsible for funding the replacement of the fleet. Nine ferries, built between 1987 and 1996, need to be replaced.
Orkney Islands Council has been run by Independents since 1974. The current leader wears a Norway or Orkney badge and the previous one put forward a motion to the council in 2023 which says it is time for the islands to consider other forms of governance, possibly along the lines of crown dependencies such as Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man, or reviving historic links with Norway.
The MPs for Orkney have been Lib Dem, Liberal, Liberal Unionist or Unionist since 1859. The MSPs have always been Lib Dem.
Is the Orkney economy strong enough to pay for new ferries itself?
The islands are a relatively prosperous part of Scotland and do well on many economic measures, with low unemployment and high levels of household income. We also have rich natural resources and are set to play a vital part in the country’s move towards a greener economy.
Orkney Islands Council, the smallest local authority in Scotland, would be responsible for funding the replacement of the fleet. Nine ferries, built between 1987 and 1996, need to be replaced.
Doing that, and upgrading the necessary infrastructure, would cost hundreds of millions of pounds – money which the council says it simply cannot afford.
Should the Scottish taxpayer, often living in less pleasant surroundings pay for new ferries for a more prosperous part of Scotland?
Also, Scotland’s councils have £4.45 billion in usable reserves for events such as this.
How much does Orkney have? Secret:
Orkney and Shetland are excluded from this chart as both hold large reserves (over 200 per cent of net cost of services) related to oil, gas and harbour related activities.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Is the badge not that of Orkney Islands? Many of the northern and western islands have in recent years adopted flags. They all follow the pattern used in the North Atlantic states – Iceland, Faroes, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland (Aye, I know – it disnae huv an Atlantic coast!)
Alasdair Macdonald
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It’s the Orcadian flag.
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Could be if that’s yellow rather than white edging the cross
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Orkney#:~:text=The%20colours%20red%20and%20yellow,maritime%20heritage%20of%20the%20islands.
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And there’s a very large population living all over the islands who are from the south with their own financial reserves from selling their properties in the south, buying up the houses and the ‘projects’ in Orkney, that in turn, increase in value and the cycle of self-profit feeds their pockets.
Aye, libdem. Little Englandshire more like.
Reckon it might be an idea for the Scottish government to insist that the islands that are looking for some form of self-governance be subject to funding their own health services, prescriptions, education and infrastructure too. Orkney and Shetland can afford to. Might make them sit up and think if the Scottish government say, ‘you know what, mainland Scotland doesn’t need you. Form your own self-governance with the reserves you have and leave us alone, but you’ll need to pay maximum amounts to travel into Scotland’s waters and use our ports for your tourists and residents’. Along with all the other scare factors that Westminster throws at Scotland. Hard border, passport control, tourist tax, health insurance, and the rest.
Took a wee ferry to an inner island yesterday, the three crew who were doing the ticketing and vehicle directing – 2 with English accents, 1 American.
Same with the inner island ferry trip last year – English accents. The year before, a different ferry rout and an Orcadian accent, but clearly the propaganda machine had done its work for he was hellbent on moaning about the fishing, and of course the SNP – ‘it’s all their fault’.
Everywhere you go, there are English accents and they’re not tourists. RSPB staff, lecturers, shopkeepers, ferry staff, bus drivers, tourist guides and so on.
I feel like the token Scot where I’m volunteering on a very busy site, inbetween English accents and American accents.
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Yes there are many many more english people living in Scotland than the census reveals the reason for that is they avoid saying they are english and tell the census they are british , the census records them as british then tells us how many english people live in Scotland and that figure excludes those english people recorded as british , its a scam.As for Orkney and Shetland i recall a Westminster government decision made in the 1960s that allowed those islands to build their wealth separately from the the rest of Scotland from Scottish oil , it was said their lives would be impacted more because of oil terminals there, i thought the idea was that this extra wealth would be used to build infrastructure to cope with the extra workers and business taking place , you could say they should be contributing something towards new ferries you could also say why NINE ferries ? i think four ferries should be paid for by Scottish government 2 for Shetland and 2 for Orkney to do trips back and forth to the mainland of Scotland, all other ferries goung from Orkney to its wee islands or Orkney to Shetland or Shetland to its wee islands or to Orkney should be paid for by Orkney and Shetland themselves.
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Orkney and Shetland are part of the Kingdom of Scotland and before we have any ‘ whataboutery ‘, before it was invaded by Vics the population of both the islands was what we know call Pictish. There was an article and discussion on this blog a while back. Orcadians and Shetlanders are not a distinct and separate race to the present day Scots. In relative terms both these Islands were Pictish Kingdoms and still are and for far longer than the time they spent under control of the Vics. Even then for most of the time the Vics hold was at best tokenism. I’m pretty certain the SG will assist Orkney and Shetland to achieve independence from Scotland if they wish to do so but if they are looking to become crown dependencies then I must remind that would be of the Kingdom of Scotland not Norway and certainly not England.
Golfnut.
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