When it comes to naming the happiest places in the world, Nordic countries have long dominated the top positions. So who can really blame Orkney, a group of islands off the north coast of Scotland, for going after a slice of that pie? And soon they might just get it. The Orkneys could soon exit the UK and become a self-governing territory of Norway. In a sort of Orxit, if you will.
The islands’ council has announced it intends to explore ‘alternative forms of governance’. The investigation will look into Orkney’s ‘Nordic connections’ and take notes from governance structures of crown dependencies such as Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man and from the Faroe Islands, a self-governing Danish territory.
It comes after council leader James Stockan argued that Orkney is ‘failed dreadfully’ by the UK and Scottish governments and does not receive a fair amount of funding.
Orkney did actually use to be under Norwegian and Danish control – albeit over 500 years ago. The islands only became part of Scotland in 1472 when they were used as security for the wedding dowry of Margaret of Denmark ahead of her marriage to King James III of Scotland.
Stockan told BBC News: ‘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?
‘There is a huge affinity and a huge deep cultural relationship there. This is exactly the moment to explore what is possible.’
Any change would likely require a whole bunch of petitions, referendums and legislation at both at Scottish government in Holyrood and the UK gov in Westminster. The motion is being discussed by the Orkney Islands council on Tuesday, so watch this space for further updates.
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