Well, this is interesting https://twitter.com/Shetnews/status/1300451630123552770

I'll write about this in more detail at some point but here are some initial thoughts (short thread):

The idea of autonomy for Shetland isn't new. In 1962 the then Zetland County Council organised a research trip to Faroe to try to understand their economic prosperity and population growth at a time when Shetland had neither, concluding that its autonomy was facilitating this.

Zetland County Council subsequently requested that the Scottish Office consider a similar settlement for Shetland. Which they did not - in fact, the 1960s saw many of the Northern Isles' local services amalgamated with those on the Scottish mainland.

There were later bids for autonomy by the (now) Shetland Islands Council - most notably in the late 1970s, when they feared a Scottish Assembly would threaten their hard-won oil settlement. The case was also made to the Scottish Constitutional Convention in 1989/90.

Outside the Council chamber, the 1979 formation of the Shetland Movement provided another avenue to campaign for autonomy, until it faded away in the 1990s. (A short-lived - and much more right-wing - group called Wir Shetland was also founded in 2014 to campaign for autonomy)

There have also been times when the Council has leveraged Shetland's distinct identity and the threat of a push for autonomy to gain concessions. Devolution in the 1970s was one example; gaining oil powers another.

More recently, the push for greater attention to the islands' needs (along with Orkney and the Western Isles) which ultimately resulted in the Islands Act came directly out of the Scottish indyref, as the islands took advantage of the constitutional debate to push their agendas.

Without placing doubt on the sincerity of these nine councillors' interest in 'financial and political self-determination', this might be a useful context for understanding what's happening now. A rhetorical push for autonomy is an effective way to highlight their grievances.

If the Council does go down the road of making a concerted push for autonomy, it'll face many of the same challenges as bedevilled Shetland's autonomy movement in the 1980s. Most immediately, it lacks any kind of mandate for such a policy - indeed, this announcement is a surprise

Most Shetlanders I suspect approve of the principle of greater local self-determination, but persuading them it is a viable option is a much more challenging obstacle. So too would be convincing them that the Council - never a popular body - is capable of leading this campaign.

Then there is also the task of actually gaining those powers they decide to campaign for. I don't think this SNP Government would dismiss any such request out of hand (the allegations of hypocrisy would be undeniable) but gaining its active support would take delicate care.

I'd wondered if Covid-19 might revive calls for autonomy, having emphasised Shetland's inability to set its own policies. This move seems more the manifestation of years of mounting frustration towards ScotGov's handling of the isles, esp finances, but Covid-19 may play a part

Ok, that's a bit longer than a 'short thread' so will leave it there! Will try to write this up into something a bit more coherent soon.