[Cherie]

followed by Orkney

This story seems to have gone under the radar ..bit of a blow to wee Nic

Shetland Islands Council has voted overwhelmingly in favour of looking into ways of obtaining financial and political independence from Scotland.

Councillors voted 18 to two in favour of the motion seeking "financial and political self-determination".

Funding cuts and centralised decision-making by the Scottish National Party (SNP) were argued as reasons to explore independence.

Steven Coutts, the council leader, said "the status quo is not working" as "devolution and the Islands Act have not made any tangible difference to the quality of life".

He added that the Scottish parliament also feels "remote" to Shetland, which has a population of 23,000.


Plans intend to look into the option of Shetland being governed as a Crown Dependency, similar to Jersey and the Isle of Man, rather than becoming an independent nation.


This would mean they would be able to retain the revenue from oil in their waters, something that would negatively impact on Scotland's finance if the independence was obtained.

https://news.sky.com/story/shetland-...tland-12068826