Scotland may be thinking about seceding from the UK, but Scotland’s remote Orkney Islands are thinking about seceding from Scotland and asking to join Norway, the country that ruled them until about 600 years ago.
The local council in the islands, which lie in the North Sea north of Inverness, plans to discuss the subject of “alternate forms of governance” at a meeting this week, although the idea has been rejected in advance by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Secession sentiment among the islanders is based on complaints that they don’t get a fair shake in funding from the government, either in London or Edinburgh.
The Orkneys, along with the Shetlands, were ruled by Norway and Denmark until the 15th century when they were used as collateral for a dowry when Margaret of Denmark married James III of Scotland. Despite later attempts at redeeming the pawn, they have remained Scottish.
Council leader James Stockan told BBC News that “We were part of the Norse kingdom for much longer than we were part of the United Kingdom. On the street in Orkney, people come up and say to me when are we going to pay back the dowry, when are we going back to Norway.” He added “There is a huge affinity and a huge deep cultural relationship there. This is exactly the moment to explore what is possible.”
