There was a good turnout for Sunday evening's Yes Orkney public meeting at Kirkwall's Lynnfield Hotel, where Fergus Ewing MSP, Scottish Government Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, gave his thoughts on the referendum and some specific issues to Orkney, not least the electricity grid constraint, renewables, the cost of the Crown Estates, fuel poverty, and tourism.

There were plenty of questions from the floor following Mr. Ewing's short speech, with topics including the grid constraint issues, his view of the future shape of society in Scotland, and whether he felt promises of more powers from the pro-Union parties were likely to bear fruit.

Mr. Ewing pointed out that regulations governing the renewable energy industry in Scotland are set by Westminster (see link below), which is currently prioritising nuclear power in England. At the present time the Scottish Government also lacks powers that would be needed to bring about a tariff for electricity customers reflecting the fact that most energy used in Orkney comes from renewable sources. While a Yes vote in September would lead to greater control over these areas, the grid constraint issues are not easily solved and likely to remain a problem for years to come.

In the event of a Yes vote, Mr. Ewing confirmed that the Scottish Government would continue to honour existing Feed-In-Tariff arrangements. He noted that this also applies to all the other legal commitments which the Scottish Government would be taking on board upon independence, such as public pensions.

Pictured are some of the Yes Orkney campaigners chatting to Mr. Ewing at the end of the meeting.