FERRY STRANGE!

This morning dawned bright and fair, with the prospect of a beautiful day ahead. I was gazing on the spectacle of a sun-drenched Breiwick Bay, when I was surprised to see a Northlink ferry appearing through the hazy sunshine, and still more surprised when, instead of carrying on into Lerwick harbour, she came to a stop in the bay itself and remained there for over an hour before moving towards the harbour entrance and out of my field of vision. The reason for my initial puzzlement was that the "Hjaltland" was only due at Aberdeen yesterday evening, and would scarcely have had time to make the return journey. On consulting my Ship AIS, I discovered that the ship I had been looking at was in fact the "Hrossey", fresh from her annual refit at Birkenhead.

Northlink ferries have been the subject of some heated discussion over the last couple of weeks. And, if any Shetlanders ever harboured any doubts over what life would be like in Shetland under the administration of an independent Scotland, the recent behaviour of the SNP-led Scottish Parliament, with regard to the lifeline ferry service to the islands, must surely have dispelled these. Our government has, without a word of consultation with anyone (including the ferry company itself, it seems), produced an edict to increase ferry journey times between Aberdeen and Shetland through operating the ships at half-power. This is under the pretence of saving money on fuel on the government-subsidised route.

This, in itself, will not make a great deal of difference to most travellers, who will grumblingly adjust to the new timetable. We'll probably leave an hour earlier and arrive half-an-hour later, or something like that. But this could well prove a bigger nuisance to people shipping containers of time-sensitive cargo such as salmon, which must reach its markets fresh.

But it's the lack of consultation which is getting seriously up islanders' noses. The fact that the Edinburgh government can just gratuitously impose its will on the islands, and mend what isn't broken without even a by-your-leave from the people affected by its tyrannical edicts, is making folk very angry in the archipelago. The SNP-led parliament is beginning to behave like insurgent nationalist dictatorships have through history, and is casting any pretence of fairness and statesmanship aside in favour of vindictive and spiteful tyranny against those who have not supported them in the past. Shetland and Orkney had better look to their laurels, and other bits, because the petty Edinburgh bureaucracy is going to target the Northern Isles with all sorts of little nuisance regulations and by-laws over the coming years.

Why the Northern Isles? Because there is no substantial SNP sympathy here. Unlike the Western Isles, which have regularly returned Scottish Nationlist MPs and MSPs to Parliament, there is, has never been and never will be any hope of doing likewise in Orkney and Shetland. There is also a certain jealousy in mainland constituencies about the perceived wealth in these islands arising from the displacement funds negotiated from the oil industry at the start of the Sullom Voe terminal project. This is, of course , an unfortunate misconception. As a Shetlander, I am no better off than anyone in a similar position "doon sooth" and, in many ways, worse off. Things are expensive up here - food, drink and fuel are all dearer, and rent and council tax is no cheaper than in many areas of mainland Scotland. On top of everything else, the cost of travelling to and from the islands in the first place is prohibitive, whether by sea or air. Ordinary islanders received not a penny rent or fuel rebate from the oil fund, which can only be spent on capital projects such as roads, leisure centres, care homes for the elderly, or sports and arts venues which will be utilised by a small minority of the population. But the fictional image of the oil-rich Shetlander persists in the mind of people from the central belt of Scotland. Meanwhile, it is a fact that the Western Isles, with their sizeable SNP support, get preferential treatment when it comes to any benefits which may emanate from the Scottish parliament, while the Northern Isles are first up for any punishment which the central-belt-dominated Tonton Macoute can dish out. Shetland is certainly no better off, in any way, governed from Edinburgh than it was from Westminster. I believe that the SNP, with their slogan "It's Scotland's Oil", should be regularly and clearly reminded exactly where most of the oil is located, and it's nowhere near Edinburgh!

There are tough times ahead for these little islands, and many difficult issues are going to have to be faced and resolved over the next few years. Let's hope we still have a ferry service at the end of the next decade - there are people in positons of power in Scotland who would grieve not a bit if we were cut off completely. A part of me hopes that this will happen - then we would be in complete charge of our own destiny. And what would become of us then?