Professor John Robertson OBA
From BBC Scotland today, the above and:
Orkney Islands Council has accepted it must remain part of the UK – after spending two years exploring opportunities for greater autonomy. Officials looked into various models for “alternative governance”.
These included changing their status in the UK or even potentially becoming a self-governing territory of Norway. A report to councillors concluded the proposals were too difficult and too expensive and members agreed to investigate a single authority model to reform how public services are delivered instead.
Two years ago TuS reported on this and the following was written but not by me. I can’t see who it was, so apologies to them.
Council leader James Stockan said Orkney does not get fair funding with its current relationship within the UK. He wants to look at Crown Dependencies like the Channel Islands and overseas territories like the Falkland Islands.
In 2014, when Unionists promoted the prospect of Orkney and Shetland breaking away from an independent Scotland, it was pointed out that the Continental Shelf Act 1964 and the Continental Shelf (Jurisdiction) Order 1968 defines the UK North Sea maritime area to the north of latitude 55 degrees north as being under the jurisdiction of Scots law. In addition, section 126 of the Scotland Act 1998 defines Scottish waters as the internal waters and territorial sea of the United Kingdom as are adjacent to Scotland
If Scotland becomes independent Westminster won’t be able to hang on to Shetland, Orkney, Rockall or any other part of Scotland. These matters are regulated by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which the UK is a signatory. International law specifies that a state controls the continental shelf and associated mineral and fishing rights up to 200 nautical miles (230 miles or 370 km) off its shores.
Neither would Westminster gain much by holding onto Shetland and Orkney. When an island belonging to one state sits on the continental shelf of another state, the islands are treated as enclaves. This matter was discussed in detail in a legal paper published by the European Journal of International Law: Prospective Anglo-Scottish Maritime Boundary Revisited
Most of the rights to the continental shelf would remain Scottish, Map 2 on page 29 of the legal paper shows the most likely sea boundaries. Westminster would be entitled only to a small zone around the islands, and the waters between Orkney and Shetland.
Orkney was colonized and later annexed by the Kingdom of Norway in 875 and settled by the Norsemen. In 1472, the Parliament of Scotland absorbed the Earldom of Orkney into the Kingdom of Scotland, following failure to pay a dowry promised to James III of Scotland by the family of his bride, Margaret of Denmark.
The Orkney islands have been part of Scotland for 550 years and there are brochs on Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles and mainland Scotland. Nowhere else. This would suggest the Northern isles had a close relationship with Scotland back in the Iron Age. Long before any Vikings arrived.
The Orkney establishment is very UK Unionist as evidenced by St Magnus Cathedral, which is a Church of Scotland place of worship but owned by the community and run by Orkney Council, displaying the Norwegian Flag and the Union Jack but no Saltire. There is also a huge Union flag at the Victoria Pier in Kirkwall just to reinforce the idea that Orkney is not considered a part of Scotland.
As Yes Orkney recently pointed out in The National, last year it was estimated that Orkney had lost out on around £620,000 as UK Government replacement funds fell short of replacing EU funding.
Orkney is a significant producer of electricity from renewable generation – mainly onshore wind but also some marine energy and solar PV. In fact, Orkney has generated more electricity annually than it can use for several years now.
Also, devolution reversed Orkney’s decline in population under Westminster rule:
So, do Northern Isles residents feel Scottish? Well, yes.
Let’s take the last census, in 2011. The share of people in Orkney who said they identified as Scottish only was exactly the same as the national average. 62.4%.
Council leader James Stockan is connected to the delicious oatcake producers whose web site describes their product as: “wholegrain oats, Orkney island water & traditional baking skills make our Scottish savoury biscuits special”
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Only ever been to Orkney on a day trip bussed around the magnet spots by an English accented driver/owner who introduced me to the Orcadian term ‘ferry-louper’+ to be fair,used it of himself too.Got the vibe the indigenous are as agin Central Belters as real auslander..
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during the summer cruise ship rush the buses ferrying around the tourists are mostly from Aberdeenshire/Inverness area – drivers shipped up with buses during the school holidays (buses used for rural school transport in term-time). So nae much cash coming the way of the Islanders.
Big Jon
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This item https://archive.ph/F6juC nicely demonstrates my earlier point of the ‘hiding in plain sight’ aspect of the BBC’s revised website pages – I did check on the two visible web-pages for ‘furrnrs’ on BBC Scotland, and no surprise to find no mention whatever, it’s all kept below the radar even for Orcadians abroad, communications management at it’s finest…
Obviously your quote enable me to find the article which really doesn’t say a lot aside SG are lumped in with WM for all ills, and frankly who could blame them for drawing that conclusion given BBC coverage – What part of those Orkney wind farms and tidal stream array experiment woes were attributed for the sake of 53km of upgraded cable { allegedly to be completed in 2026, watch this space folks } to SG despite it being a reserved power for WM god only knows, but Rob Flett already had the inside track to God with appointment as ‘Church of Scotland’ communications manager in 2013…
Orkney is not alone in wanting to GTF away from the UK mafia, most of England have been for at least the last 9 years, Scots a bitty longer…
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O/T The BBC Scotland’s Education Correspondent today (June 18) has an article on the BBC News website headlined: ‘Will new school rules help cut violence in the classroom?’ The context is publication of new guidance from the Scottish Government on how schools should deal with violent and aggressive behaviour from pupils.
The BBC Scotland piece claims that pupil behaviour is causing teachers to leave the profession. Of course some teachers do opt to leave and no doubt the stresses and strains of dealing with unacceptable classroom behaviour will be the trigger for some. Of course this is not unique to Scotland and despite being exposed to BBC Scotland’s typically context-free, perspective-free and comparisons-free reporting on all the supposed ills of Scotland’s education system, many people fortunately still wish to teach in our country.
The education correspondent writes about one ex-teacher’s views: (name is given but I have no wish to amplify this person’s identity further) ‘… taught in a primary school in Inverness for 14 years but in 2018 she quit to become a tutor. She said she loved the job but there was a “gradual” erosion of a teacher’s ability to use boundaries that made it impossible to maintain discipline. Her story chimes with the stories of so many others. Teachers leaving the profession because the classroom behaviour has become too difficult, too overwhelming.’ (my emphasis)
My level of trust in BBC Scotland is so low now that when it uses an individual’s experience in this way I find it hard to resist a closer look.
The named individual appears to be the owner of a tutoring business aimed at both primary and secondary school pupils. The business was profiled recently as the beneficiary of business development support from Highlands and Islands Enterprise. On the HIE website we find this: ‘(same name) has been teaching for over 16 years and tutoring for over six. Whilst working as a primary school teacher, she started her own business in 2017, (named), to help create a better work-life balance following the birth of her second child.‘
And: ‘When COVID-19 hit, parents became more involved in teaching their children and saw up close where their children needed some extra support. And as a result, (name) saw a rapid demand for her online primary-level tutoring services.’
From the ‘about’ section on the tutoring company’s own website: ‘. In 2004, I embarked on my teaching career’ and ‘Over the years, I had the privilege of teaching in various schools in the Highlands, gaining valuable experience and insights.
‘In 2012, I took a career break after serving as an acting Deputy Head Teacher. It was during this time, while starting a family, that I discovered the transformative power of tutoring. I began working with local children, offering one-to-one and small group sessions from the summer house in my garden. … ’
So perhaps not quite the implied BBC Scotland story of an individual teacher leaving the profession simply because the classroom behaviour had become too difficult, too overwhelming? BBC Scotland rarely fails to live up to its reputation!
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Sneaky-sneaky! Subtler than the standard methodology of info.commision/omission..
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Using the 2022 census data and the excellent data page https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/search-the-census#/search-by
The current position of people who see themselves as Scots only
Scotland 65%
Orkney 65%
Shetland 67%
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