WHETHER it’s Labour or the Tories in charge at Westminster one thing is for sure – they will forget to include Shetland in a UK-wide map.
Yet again, UK Government officials seem to have forgotten that part of the country exists.
This time, and we’ll get to the others in a moment, it was GB Energy, the Labour Government’s publicly-owned energy company who made the glaring omission.
It’s not as if Shetland has been the focal point of the energy industry for decades, is home to a large wind farm, and a key part of the oil and gas industry.
It is, of course, but apparently that escaped the eagle eyes of Whitehall officials.
READ MORE: Outrage as Shetland omitted from GB Energy map of UK
In GB Energy’s strategic plan, published on Thursday, Shetland’s absence from the map of the UK was a blatant and baffling oversight.
They have since apologised and insisted they will rectify the mistake.
But this is not the first time that this has happened.
In March 2022, under the Tories, Michael Gove’s then-titled Levelling Up department was criticised after erasing Shetland from the UK map in a digital advert series.
Just months later, in July 2022, a “Great Britain” campaign ad didn’t feature either Shetland or Orkney, prompting the anger of the local MP Alistair Carmichael.
And it isn’t just the UK Government.
The BBC dismissed a complaint about “a map of the UK” that did not include Orkney or Shetland in July 2023.
The corporation’s executive complaints unit (ECU) insisted that it could find “no inaccuracy” with the map, because none of the people in the programme in question (about the search for singers to perform at the King’s coronation) came from the Northern Isles.
And, despite the fact that the Scottish Government previously brought in a new law banning public bodies in the country from failing to display the islands “in a manner that accurately and proportionately represents their geographical location in relation to the rest of Scotland”, they also came under fire themselves in 2023.
The embarrassing moment for the Government came after it looked to promote the anniversary of legislation aimed at ending “period poverty” in a social media post.
But it was quickly noted that Shetland was not included in a stylised map purporting to show the “length and breadth of Scotland”.
Despite the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 being brought in by the SNP, even they aren’t immune to a map mix-up.
But this recent gaffe by GB Energy is a perfect example of Scotland’s key role in the energy industry being taken advantage of by Westminster.
Hannah-Mary Goodlad, the SNP’s candidate for Shetland at the Holyrood 2026 election, summed it up succinctly.
“We host one of Europe’s largest onshore wind farms, sit at the centre of vital energy corridors, have Sullom Voe in our land and have taken far more of our fair share in national contribution to renewable build out,” she said.
“Shetland deserves to be seen, respected, and represented by decision-makers who actually understand our strategic importance, not treated as a footnote by a government too far away to notice when it erases us from its own map.”
The energy industry is at a tipping point, with Scottish jobs on the line and a shrinking window to ensure a just transition for those workers.
If GB Energy can’t even remember to include Shetland on a map – a crucial part of that transition and communities who depend on it being a success – then how can Scots be expected to trust them to protect jobs north of the Border?
It’s just the latest example of Westminster letting slip that Scotland will always be an afterthought.
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