Letters / Half-baked referendum
If reports are true that Catriona Murray’s Referenda for the Islands has been taken seriously by a large number of people then I am very surprised indeed. According to the wording of the petition islanders will be required to vote one week after the main referendum on whether they would like to become fully independent, stay with Scotland or with the rest of the UK.
It is simply not possible to make reasoned decisions without a huge amount of information on issues such as what would happen to the health service, the legal system, education etc. etc. Without any attempt to address these matters the petition is meaningless.
Even more importantly to a lot of people is the question of how much oil would belong to Shetland if it became independent or stayed with the rest of the UK. According to Mahdi Zahraa’s paper in the European Journal of International Law Shetland would probably, in the event of separation from the rest of Scotland, only have rights to a 12 mile zone around the shore – all the oil is outside this area.
I am all in favour of more autonomy for the islands but the process should start with discussions on the important issues such as the health service and a legal opinion on territorial rights. A half-baked referendum conceived by individuals who have their own particular political ambitions to pursue is not helpful in the least.
Willie Nicolson
Tayport
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