Onen hag oll (Cornish) ("One and all") | |||||||
| Anthem | "Our Happy Island Home" | ||||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
Hugh Town | ||||||
| Other cities | New Grimsby, Higher Town, Middle Town, The Town and Woodbers | ||||||
| Language official |
English | ||||||
| others | Cornish | ||||||
| Religion main |
Christian | ||||||
| others | Irreligious, Hindu and others | ||||||
| Ethnic Groups main |
Cornish | ||||||
| others | Welsh, English | ||||||
| Demonym | Scillonian | ||||||
| Government | Unitary parliamentary republic under a semi-direct democracy | ||||||
| Legislature | Assembly and Council of the Isles of Scilly | ||||||
| Governor | |||||||
| Chairman | |||||||
| Area | 16.37 km² | ||||||
| Population | 3,100 | ||||||
| Currency | Cel | ||||||
| Organizations |  Celtic Alliance
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The Isles of Scilly are located southwest of Cornwall. They constitute a sovereign state and the smallest member of the Celtic Alliance.
History[]
Background[]
The Isles have a long history of political and constitutional distinctness. For many centuries they constituted a separate feudal landholding, its ruler being styled "Governor" or "Lord Proprietor". In 1890 the British Parliament allowed Scilly to form a council that functionally worked as a county council, administratively removing it from Cornwall (though it was still considered part of Cornwall for some purposes). Scilly kept this unique status through several rounds of local government reform and was still operating as a miniature quasi-county in 1983.
Evidence of Scilly's strategic location can be seen in its extensive fortifications, extant examples of which stretch back to the Tudor era, through the English Civil War, Napoleonic Wars, and First and Second World War.
These two factors - the isles' administrative independence and military usefulness - are the reasons for its unusual status today.
Survival[]
The isles suffered almost no direct damage from missiles or fallout in 1983. Over the next few days, some radioactive material would blow in from the strikes on Plymouth, and electromagnetic pulses disabled Scilly's electric and communication infrastructure and made it more difficult to contact the mainland. Still, the isles' isolation and autonomy allowed the Council to go on functioning more or less without interruption. It enacted emergency measures, including five days of sheltering inside to avoid fallout, and activated the volunteer Coastguard to patrol the shoreline. Two counselors set out in boats to make contact with authorities on the mainland.
The entire southwest of England was in theory to be administered from the Regional Governmental Headquarters near Salcombe in Devon. In addition, the region had two outposts sheltering those members of the national government able to escape the attacks: RNAS Culdrose on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, and HMS Osprey naval training facility in Portland, Dorset. These surviving units of government brought a measure of stability to England's southwestern coast that was not seen in the rest of the country. However, in the case of Scilly, isolated from the mainland and under a fully functioning, county-level government, they were happy to delegate everything of importance to the Council while they dealt with utter catastrophes everywhere else. Largely ignored, the isles had to fend for themselves, a pattern also seen in other outlying islands like Shetland and Orkney.
Conditions turned harsh. Strict rationing was not enough when no food at all was coming from the outside. The Council took control of the fishing fleet to provide for the islands' people. Some refugees began to arrive from Cornwall - not a flood, but enough to put a severe strain on resources. By late 1984, in fact, the population more than doubled to over 4000, later declining as people moved on to other places. Boats were rigged with masts and sails to conserve fuel, which was steadily running out.
Irish presence[]
A large portion of the surviving Royal Navy had departed for Australia and South Africa by 1987, since there were no more facilities in the UK that could maintain the ships. The Irish armed forces began to worry about defence now that the British presence in the surrounding seas was down to almost nil. Scilly was an ideal location to monitor approaches to Ireland from the Continent. A request was made first to the Scillonian council to build a radar and coast guard station on one of the isles. As this would require improvements to the power grid and other infrastructure, the Council readily accepted, not even bothering to defer to the national government. Ireland was closely cooperating with the remnants of Britain's War Cabinet on other matters and informed them of this request; the Cabinet had no reason to object. It still had much more urgent concerns than Scilly.
In subsequent years the military presence increased. Old fortifications were refurbished for a garrison of a hundred or so soldiers. The Irish military became a major employer in the isles, bringing a welcome boost to their otherwise subsistence-level economy.
Joining the CA[]
Throughout this time, Scilly remained nominally part of the emerging republic of Southern England, though in practice it kept its virtual independence and enjoyed far stronger connections to Ireland. The Isle of Man's path toward membership in the Celtic Alliance led to discussions about Scilly doing the same. The Council voted to look into the issue in 1992. The CA executive indicated that despite Scilly's very small size, it could pursue membership - its distinct history, century of self-rule, similarity to other small island states, and strategic importance would make it a welcome member.
By this time, the Scillonian people were accustomed to meeting in popular assemblies in each island to vote on major issues. This was perhaps the most important question that they ever had to consider, since it would mean separating from Southern England to essentially become a separate country. They voted 55% to 45% in favour of joining in 1992 and were admitted in 1994.
Nationhood[]
The tiny isles thus became a sovereign nation in theory, though in fact of course they remained heavily reliant on Irish support. Scilly became an important piece of the CA's overall strategic vision, protecting the region's southern flank. Within the pan-celtist cultural project that emerged from the Alliance, Scilly also came to play an important role. Cornwall itself remained attached to England, but Scilly could represent this "Sixth Celtic Nation" within the Alliance's cultural institutions. Support came in for revival efforts of Cornish culture and language.
Economy[]
The economy is based on fishing, small-scale farming, and the military. The isles are known for having the mildest climate in the British Isles, and for this reason tourism has slowly begun to return, but it remains a small sector of the economy.
Education[]
Government[]
The Council of the Isles of Scilly is a governing body going back to the 1890 reform law. Its administration is still structured basically like a very small English county.
Direct democracy has expanded gradually since the days just after 1983, when citizens began spontaneously to meet together on each island to make collective decisions. So today, the Assembly of the Isles of Scilly functions almost like a weaker second chamber of the legislature. It consists of all the citizens meeting together on their separate islands. On each island, citizens meet regularly to make local decisions and propose matters for the Council's consideration. One island assembly can also call to place Council decisions before the full Assembly, all the islands together, for ratification. The islands vote separately, but the votes are aggregated so that each person gets one vote.
To serve as a head of state, the Council named a Governor just after it joined the Celtic Alliance. Their power is wholly ceremonial. So far the role has not had much formal definition. Each governor has been a respected elder. All served until they chose to retire and selected their own successor, subject to Council approval.
Scilly sends one representative to the Parliament of the Celtic Alliance. In the early years, this was just the Chairman of the Council serving in the role ex officio. Since then, a separate, direct election has been introduced.
Defence[]
The Celtic Alliance's military command is responsible for the Isles' defence. Around a hundred CA military personnel are stationed there.
The Scilly Coastguard is a volunteer organization trained to conduct rescues.
Symbols[]
The Scillonian flag is a recoloured version of the banner of arms of the old Board of Ordnance. Local lore says that the Board left a flag behind when it abandoned one of the isles' forts, and that this flag came to serve as a local identifier for the islands. By the late twentieth century a red and green version was being sold in local shops and used by local boats, as well as visiting boats as a flag of courtesy. Scilly's status as a surviving government brought the flag more prominence, and it was officially adopted when the isles joined the CA. Its symbolism is vague, but the islanders consider it to be their own.
A shield based on the flag changes three gold bezants in chief (originally representing cannonballs) into a bordure surrounding the three cannons with six bezants. They represent the six inhabited islands - Samson island having been resettled in recent years.
The Cornish Cross of Saint Piran is also commonly flown by the islanders.
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