Shetland News - Autonomy Survey - Closing 12 September 2025
Monday 8 September 2025
 15.7°C   S Gentle Breeze
Ocean Kinetics - The Engineering Experts

Letters / Faroe-style autonomy feasible

Once again the SNP, this time through Bill Adams (Research the facts; SN 12/6/15) is “greetin aboot bein ill duyn tae be da media”

Tavish Scott, as a Liberal Democrat minister in a coalition dominated by central belt Labour, may well have excluded the NHS from the Air Discount Scheme (ADS) in 2006, however the discount was surely a decent advance on what had gone before and therefore creditable.

The SNP has been in government since 2007 and has done nothing to change this heinous omission by Tavish so, IMHO, it ill behoves Bill to complain about your article.

If Shetland had Faroese-style autonomy, the £80 million-a-year tax surplus versus funding received would be retained, along with, most likely, a tidy sum from the oil and fishing industries on top.

That money could be used to assist transport to, say, Scotland and between islands, install road tunnels or whatever local voters desired.

Faroese-style autonomy for Shetland is entirely feasible, it nearly happened in 1979. All it needs is Shetlanders to reserve the right to “opt out” if they vote ‘No’ in a future independence referendum, within an overall Scottish ‘Yes’ vote.

That right must be reserved by the isles’ political leaders. Caution will be imperative when voting people into positions of political power.

John Tulloch
Lyndon
Arrochar

Become a member of Shetland News

Shetland News is asking its readers to consider paying for membership to get additional perks:

  • Removal of third-party ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.

 
Categories

Sign up
for our Newsletters

Stay in the loop with newsletters tailored to your interests. Whether you're looking for daily updates, weekly highlights, or updates on jobs or property, you can choose exactly what you want to receive.

Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 

JavaScript Required

We're sorry, but Shetland News isn't fully functional without JavaScript enabled.
Head over to the help page for instructions on how to enable JavaScript on your browser.

Interested in Notifications?

Get notifications from Shetland News for important and breaking news.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

What's next for Shetland?

Is Shetland ready to be handed more powers and if so, what powers could that be and to whom should they be devolved?

We would like to hear directly from you, our readers, to find answers to some of these questions.

Please take a moment to share your views via this short survey.

Closing date 12 September 2025

Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

  • Removal of third-party ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.