The Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland are exploring choices to depart the UK and turn into a self-governing territory of Norway, after the native management blasted the governments in Edinburgh and London for “failing” the islanders.
A movement to be mentioned on Tuesday by the Orkney Islands council has referred to as upon the archipelago – consisting of greater than 70 islands and islets – to maneuver nearer to its “Nordic connections” in pursuit of “various types of governance,” in response to council chief James Stockan.
Orkney was beneath Norwegian and Danish management till 1472, after they had been transferred to Scotland as a part of a dowry association for Margaret of Denmark’s marriage to King James III of Scotland.
“We had been a part of the Norse kingdom for for much longer than we had been a part of the UK,” Stockan advised the BBC in feedback revealed on Sunday.
He added that islanders really feel a “deep cultural relationship” to their Nordic heritage, and {that a} reunion may very well be useful to the native economic system, which he stated has been “failed dreadfully” by Edinburgh and London.
Stockan has claimed the Orkney Islands don’t obtain enough funding from the UK authorities, significantly compared to Crown Dependencies such because the Channel Islands or abroad territories just like the Falkland Islands.
“The funding we get from the Scottish authorities is considerably much less per head than Shetland and the Western Isles to run the identical companies,” Stockan stated. “We will’t go on as we’re.” The movement additionally references the Faroe Islands – a self-governing territory of Denmark situated within the North Sea.
Orkney islanders voted in a 2017 referendum to have a “stronger voice” of their relationship with the UK – however didn’t again full autonomy from the mainland.
Stockan, although, says that whereas an in-depth examine of the islands’ funds has not but been carried out, revenues from oil and wind tasks off its coast must be supporting locals fairly than being funnelled to the UK authorities. “The dividend we get again isn’t enough to maintain us going,” he stated.
The UK authorities has stated that the Orkney Islands will likely be included in a £50 million ($63.4 million) fund to assist develop the economies of Scottish islands. “We are going to all the time be stronger collectively as one United Kingdom, and now we have no plans to alter the devolution settlement,” a authorities spokesperson stated.
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