Where’s the democracy?
A better future for all – unless that is you live in the confines of the Viking Energy windfarm, or any one of the many more that will spring up once the interconnector is in place.
An interconnector that Westminster and Holyrood are keen to install not for the benefit of Shetland, but so they can meet their obligations to the EU and their own courts.
The SIC are keen because they think they can get a bumper payout to pay for God knows what because it’s not going to be rural education (will they now announce an immediate halt to school closures because of this impending payout?).
I also hear a lot of folk saying that SSE would not go ahead with it unless they were confident of making a profit. This is not quite the case; they are legally obliged to go ahead with it (they will pay penalties for not producing “green energy”) whether it makes a profit or not (they have managed to get us via the council to pay half the costs though).
And if it all goes tits up the government will bail out SSE security of supply and all that, but we will be left with no money, a scar on Shetland that will take a long time to heal both on the landscape and in the community.
Now whether or not you are for or against the windfarm it must bother you that the council (through the guise of the charitable trust) has forged ahead with this project over the objections of so many of their employers (ie. the electorate).
Just where is the democracy at work, because it’s not in the town hall?
With this constitutional upheaval stirred up by Eck and his mates we have a once in a lifetime chance to either secure from central government the means to pay for whatever we need or strike out on our own and have a national wealth that would pay for everything we could dream of for the rest of time.
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Some will claim that would be greedy (our chief negotiator did, blowing any chance we had of gaining either with the OIOF). Well I claim it is greedy for central government to be forcing cuts here because they are in recession and have squandered the £billions we have gifted them over the last 40 odd years.
The council are wanting their say to gain control over activity in our waters out to 12 miles, well the vast bulk of our fishing is done outside 12 miles so they are leaving our fishing industry high and dry so to speak.
That’s why I am asking everybody to sign the petition of no confidence in the SIC, some have said they would like to but can’t as they work for the council and are afraid for their jobs, well I would remind them that the councillors work for us and it is them that should fear for their jobs because it is the councillors that are failing to live up to their contract with us.
Sign online using the link below or at your local shop.
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/shetland-islands-council-resign
Ali Inkster
Hamnavoe
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