Commenting on the motion being debated by Orkney Islands Council tomorrow (Tuesday) on more autonomy for the islands, Highlands and Islands MSP, Jamie Halcro Johnston, who is from Orkney, said:
“The Northern Isles hold a unique constitutional and cultural position, and calls for greater autonomy for our islands are neither new nor without merit.
"However, we also have strong ties with Scotland, and we are the part of the country that voted most overwhelmingly in support of remaining in the United Kingdom in 2014.
“So while Orkney has always recognised and celebrated our valuable cultural and historic links with Norway, I think talk of “re-joining Norway” is more about generating media headlines than anything else.
“Orkney Islands Council is right to highlight the funding issues our islands face; an issue I have been raising myself for over 20 years. But this ongoing and damaging underfunding comes from Scottish Government ministers in Edinburgh.
“For decades, administrations at Holyrood – whether that’s the current SNP/Green Government or, previously, the Labour and Liberal Democrat Scottish Executive - have short-changed Orkney. That is a problem which has been exacerbated by endless promises made, but undelivered, by successive Scottish ministers.
“That has put real pressure on the sustainability of local services, and makes key future challenges – such as the increasingly urgent need to replace our ageing ferries fleet – even harder to deliver.
"So I welcome more pressure being put on Scottish ministers to drop their Central Belt centralising agenda and to stop them ignoring our islands and our island communities”.
