British island plans bid to leave UK and become territory of Norway
THE Orkney Islands could move to quit the UK and become a self-governing territory of Norway.
Councillors will tomorrow discuss “alternative governance” in a bid to be more independent.
Possibilities include seeking a similar situation to the Faroe Islands, which are a self-governing territory of Denmark.
Orkney Council leader James Stockan said both the UK and Scottish Governments had “failed dreadfully” in dealing with the isle.
He told the BBC: “We are really struggling.
“We have to replace the whole ferry fleet, which is older than the CalMac fleet.
“We are denied things that other areas get and funding from the Scottish Government is significantly less per head than Shetland and the Western Isles to run the same services — we can’t go on as we are.
“The dividend we get back isn’t sufficient to keep us going”.
The islands were previously under Norwegian and Danish control until becoming part of Scotland in 1472.
Mr Stockan said: “We were part of the Norse kingdom for longer than we were part of the United Kingdom.
“People say to me, ‘When are we going back to Norway?’
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