Scottish Parliament

A Bill to make provision for the dissolution of the Union between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom; to make provision for the transfer of powers from the UK Parliament to the Scottish Parliament; and for connected purposes.

• Earlier this week, Orkney Islands Council voted on a motion to begin exploring options of “greater subsidiarity and autonomy”, potentially looking beyond the UK and Scottish borders to build “Nordic connections”.
• As these news reports typically highlight, Orkney and Shetland were part of the Norwegian and Danish kingdoms until their annexation by Scotland in 1472.
• Orkney’s motion joins a long history of attempts by activists and local politicians to use this distinct identity to draw attention to grievances with central government.

Back to Scandinavia

• In August 1967, Orkney’s largest settlements of Kirkwall and Stromness awoke to a poster campaign calling for Orkney to return “Back to Denmark”.
• The immediate trigger was the government’s policy of centralising police forces and water boards into regional bodies, abolishing Orkney’s local institutions.
• There were also grievances concerning the expensive cost of transport and the government’s inadequate response to a shipping strike the previous year.

Political failures

• As in 1967 and 1986, Orkney Islands Council’s motion to explore greater autonomy and Nordic connections is centred on current political issues.
• The council is frustrated at failures to reach an agreement with the Scottish government to fund the replacement of its ageing inter-island ferries or secure adequate ferry fare subsidies.
• Invoking the possibility of constitutional change, especially when this draws on the islands’ Norse heritage, is a proven strategy for gaining media and political attention.
• External actors are often willing to make use of eye-grabbing headlines or gain additional ammunition for national constitutional quarrels.
• Like any other community, there are political differences which can sometimes be overlooked from outside perspectives.

• Star Refrigeration are again sponsoring an international initiative to encourage women into engineering, which will see nine female students from the University of Glasgow link up with ten from the University of Nairobi, Kenya.
• GLASGOW, U.K., May 27, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- 2022 will be the sixth year running that Star has sponsored FemEng, a collaborative project, which brings together global female engineering students, so they can promote STEM careers to children.
• They will work with fifteen female engineering students at the University of Nairobi to brainstorm ways to inspire young people to take up engineering and other STEM subjects.
• As one of the company's core missions, the promotion of a more inclusive workforce is a critical field for Star Refrigeration.

• Wildix, developer of the first web-based unified communications and collaboration solution oriented toward increasing sales, announced today that it will be showcasing its solutions at MSP EXPO , held June 22-25, 2021, at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami, Florida.
• Collocated with ITEXPO , #TECHSUPERSHOW MSP EXPO is The Premier Conference and Networking Summit for MSPs - where MSP business owners and technology specialists share strategies to grow their managed services businesses.
• Were excited about the opportunity to expose more MSPs to the simplicity, security and functionality of our unified communications platform at MSP EXPO, said Robert Cooper, Managing Director of Wildix Americas.
• Meet Wildix at MSP EXPO booth #114 to learn more about the companys unified communication solution and channel-centric business strategy.