Analysis: Salute to our unbeatable sense of belonging

WHEN Jo Grimond was the Northern Isles MP, he was asked by the House of Commons travel office for the nearest railway station. Bergen, came the answer.

Grimond reflected the enduring influence of Scandinavia to Shetland. Islanders were Norse. In 1468, Shetland was pledged by the king of Norway as a dowry for his daughter Margaret betrothed to James III of Scotland. The money was never paid and the connection with the crown of Scotland became perpetual.

Every January in a scene most first saw on Blue Peter, Vikings burn a longship and celebrate Up Helly Aa. It breaks the long winter, is a celebration of Shetland and portrays a dramatic visual image to the world.

Visitor may see a flare stack as west of Shetland waters now teem with oil and gas exploration.

The islands have lived with both sides of the oil industry. I will not forget seeing the impact of oil spilt in one of Shetland’s voes in 1978.

However, the industry and the islands got their environmental act together and the Shetland standard of oil port management at Sullom Voe is and must remain exemplary.

Not least because Shetland exports £200 million of high-quality salmon, mussels, shellfish and whitefish to markets worldwide grown and caught in a pristine marine environment. The only thing we’re missing is a distillery.

Unst, formerly home to the RAF during the Cold War, now boasts the islands’ brewery. An expanding business.

To be a Shetlander is to be part of a safe, secure community who look after each other. Over a fiddle tune, a dram or by the side of the fitba park cheering on our national team, there’s little to beat being a Shetlander.

• Tavish Scott is MSP for Shetland