Orkney among most vulnerable to Brexit, according to new analysis

Orkney is one of the areas in Scotland at greatest risk from the impact of Brexit, a new analysis has found.

The Local Level Brexit Vulnerabilities in Scotland report reveals that while the risks presented by the UK’s departure from the EU, are anticipated to have significant social and economic consequences for all areas of Scotland, rural and island communities are among the most vulnerable.

The study found that 34 per cent of those in Orkney are living in the most vulnerable communities in Scotland.

According to an interactive map, many of those living in the outer isles are at greatest risk from the implications of Brexit, owing to the relatively high levels of EU funding, income deprivation and migration flow.

Orkney MSP Liam McArthur said: “This latest analysis confirms the worrying scale of damage that any type of Brexit will cause, particularly in island communities such as Orkney and Shetland.

“The UK Government simply cannot ignore these warnings and must now stop putting people’s jobs and livelihoods at risk.

“The Scottish Liberal Democrats have consistently said that remaining in the EU is in the best interests of the Northern Isles, as it is for the rest of the country. We will continue to make that case as robustly as we can”.

In further worrying news for Scotland’s islands communities, the Western Isles and Shetland are of particular concern with 53 per cent and 50 per cent of communities rated as the most vulnerable.

The analysis, carried out by the Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services, breaks the map of Scotland down into 7,000 geographical units called datazones.

Across these datazones a series of factors that put communities at risk to Brexit — not just a ‘no deal’ Brexit — have been plotted.

These factors include: access to services, what share of the population is of working age, income deprivation, workers in Brexit-sensitive industries such as farming and fishing, EU worker migration and how many EU payments are received.

The variables are then weighted and combined to form a single indicator for each data zone — the Brexit Vulnerability Index.

The report is being released with an interactive online Brexit Vulnerabilities Index Map, which can be used by local authorities and other organisations as a tool to help plan for Brexit.

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said: “We always knew that Brexit could be damaging to Scotland, but this analysis lays out in stark terms how vulnerable communities across the country — urban and rural — are to its impact.

“As a responsible government, we will do what we can to mitigate and minimise its impact: this study only underlines the scale of that task and the recklessness of the UK Government in continuing to pursue Brexit at any cost.”