Whalsay visit

The Yes Shetland campaign team organised a successful series of initiatives on Whalsay last Monday, 11 August.

The team took the referendum campaign to the doorsteps, giving individual residents an opportunity to ask any questions about the benefits arising from a Yes vote.

In the evening a public meeting was held in the Symbister Public Hall, where those attending took the opportunity to join in a wide-ranging discussion on a range of issues including fisheries management.

The Common Fisheries Policy has been a disaster for Scottish fishing communities, largely because successive UK governments have traded away Scottish interests.

During initial membership negotiations the UK Tory Government, led by Mr Heath, declared the interests of our fishing communities ‘expendable’.

With a Yes vote in September, our experience as a country and fishing as an industry would be transformed by the fact that of having the absolute right to be there at every stage of EU decision-making and not just when UK ministers choose to agree that our priorities should be heard.

It is inevitable that an independent Scottish government elected by the people in Scotland would give a higher priority to issues such as fisheries than has ever been given by Westminster.

After 15 years on the European Parliament’s fisheries committee, for me there is no clearer example than fisheries in demonstrating that Scotland needs to be a normal country, with the right to represent ourselves internationally.

A Yes vote on 18 September would mean that for the first time as a country Scotland would have the guaranteed right to have a say among governments as policies develop.

Ian Hudghton MEP
ian.hudghton@europarl.europa.eu