THE next time someone says Scotland has the most powerful devolved parliament in the world, look them straight in the eyes and ask: “What about the Faroe Islands?” A tiny parliament of 33 MPs sits in a building by the sea 200 miles north-west of northern Scotland, representing just 49,000 people. It raises its own taxes – bands, rates and all – and doesn’t need permission from “Motherland” Denmark to create new ones. The Løgting (literally “law assembly”) also controls key areas of the economy like energy. So, the truly powerful Faroese parliament would not be forced to stand by and watch if Copenhagen axed subsidies for renewable energy, as Westminster has done across Scotland and the rest of the UK.

The Faroese parliament creates its own energy regime – subsidy, energy type and all. It also acts to protect the Faroese language, as distinct from Danish as every other Nordic language, and ensures it is taught as first language beside Danish (second language) in schools and used at the Faroes University, and on Faroes TV and Radio. Yip, that’s right. A university for 49,000 people living on a cluster of 18 rocky islands between Shetland and Iceland turns out graduates who help produce a nightly TV bulletin that reflects the islanders’ ultra-local perspective on local, Nordic, and international news.

I’d say that’s a tad more powerful than anything currently on offer for Holyrood.

The Smyril Line ferry company (minority government-owned) sails from the Faroes to Iceland and Denmark, (Scotland has no international ferries since the Rosyth-Zeebrugge link ended) and Atlantic Airways (100% government-owned) has three aircraft connecting locals with Iceland, Denmark, Norway, seasonal holiday destinations and Scotland.

That last destination is becoming increasingly significant.

Scots, uneducated about their own northern peripheries of Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, may be quite unaware the Faroes exist, but mercifully the feeling isn’t mutual. I was asked to come and speak about Scotland’s place in the North Atlantic by the director of the Nordic House, which opened in the Faroese capital Torshavn in 1983. The venue was built and is maintained with cash (mostly) from the Nordic Council of Ministers for the express purpose of supporting Nordic and Faroese culture, and allowing members of all Nordic nations to meet, mingle and co-operate. So, the invitation for a Scot to come and speak was significant. The fact 150 people turned up was mildly astonishing. And the friendly and informed nature of the Faroese questioning was gob-smacking.

Locals asked about everything from indyref2 to Scotland’s likely post-Brexit fate – one questioner even asked about the apparent rise of Ruth Davidson – and they had all heard about the difficulties facing the NHS in England this winter.

Why the big interest? The Faroese see strong parallels with Scotland’s devolved parliament and since Britain is their second-biggest market for fish exports (the biggest is Russia) they want to know what changes Brexit might bring. Above all, they are puzzled by Scotland’s enthusiasm for the EU.

The Faroes remained outside the European Union in 1972 when “mainland” Denmark joined, fearful that the Common Fisheries Policy would stop Faroese fishermen heading out to sea when they wanted and would end their hard-won 200-mile limit. But the islands are also outside the European Economic Area (EEA) because, since the EEA underpins the EU, Denmark is already a member and because only sovereign states like Iceland and Norway can join.

Consequently, there has long been an independence movement in the Faroes. Indeed, a post-war referendum held seventy years ago this week, produced a 50.7 per cent Yes vote – ambiguous enough to let the Danes offer a powerhouse devolved parliament instead. That offer was accepted by the next Faroese government. The result has been a rollercoaster of a time as the Faroes Home Rule parliament developed fishing, fish-farming and the controversial tradition of whaling. Locals maintain whaling’s not a commercial industry on the Faroes as it is in Japan, and provided a vital source of food on barren islands where nothing grows but potatoes. Even if islanders were forced to take protein from any source in days gone past, starvation is hardly a justification now. But the more outsiders complain about the spectacle of beaches drenched with blood, the more the thrawn Faroese defend their ancient tradition.

Locals speak excellent English and are particularly fond of the Scots because of shared genetic origins, proximity (til 2007 there was a ferry connection with Scrabster) and because Scots soldiers were stationed there during the Second World War to prevent German occupation. The Faroese also identify with the Scots as a sister Northern nation, subsumed within a state it neither entirely fits, nor (currently) feels quite confident enough to leave. But remember the different scales involved in that comparison.

Scotland's population is 108 times bigger than the Faroe Islands’. And while this seafaring nation has sizeable resources of sheep and fish, it has no commercial oil or coal.

Despite this, the Faroese are determined to become economically independent so they can go the extra mile with full political independence when the time is right. That’s why the previous Republican-party led administration handed back about one-third of the block grant from Copenhagen in 2002. Yip – you read that right. The Faroes parliament voted to cut the money it receives from the Danish government to wean itself off economic dependence.

This astonishing piece of budgetary dieting followed one of the worst decades in the islands’ history, when a financial crash in 1992 prompted Danish auditors to close two Faroese banks. The Faroese government (tax payers) saved the banks, island parliament re-capitalised the banks, but the resulting national debt was huge. For ten years spending and wages were cut, taxes were raised and 10 per cent of the population left – most were young families whose homes had been repossessed. It hurt and it left a scar on the islanders’ extraordinary self-confidence – “we still sometimes feel haunted” – but local politicians clearly feel the nation has turned the corner.

A recent academic survey suggests their fishing fleet is now the most efficient in the North Atlantic, and although control over foreign policy still rests with Denmark, the Faroes have cheekily established “a diplomatic presence” in Moscow, Brussels, London and Reykjavik, with plans to extend their reach to Washington and Greenland, and they take the Danish “chair” (when allowed) in relevant negotiations.

Still, there’s frustration about not being members of the Nordic Council, World Trade Organisation or European Free Trade Association in their own right, and about not being members of the Arctic Council. Indeed, the Faroese perceive the devolved nature of Greenland and the Faroes as a barrier to regional development as neither tiny populace is legislatively equal to Denmark.

It's not the EFTA and the World Trade Org that have a problem with the Faroes being devolved - it's the islanders themselves.

There is something both inspirational and sobering about the unassuming ambition of these islanders. In Scottish terms, their population wouldn’t be big enough to constitute a single council – the average Scottish “local” authority caters for a whopping 170,000 folk.

But part of the reason the Faroese retain such a healthy population-base at this isolated northern latitude is their vibrant system of genuinely local democracy. They have 30 councils for little more than 49,000 people, while Scotland has 32 councils for 5.3 million people. It’s a massive difference – and a hugely popular one.

Part of the reason tunnels connect the larger islands is to ensure that most of the population are within 45 minutes’ drive of Torshavn, so municipalities have a fairly equal income base and no complex cross subsidies are needed. It’s not that the Faroese are sentimental about tradition. They recently turned the whole island cluster into a single constituency for electing MPs so their parliament would be more truly proportional.

Today, there’s some excitement on the Faroes about news that Ban Ki Moon and Nicola Sturgeon are to be keynote speakers at the Arctic Circle conference in Reykjavik next month.

The Faroese interest in Scotland is high – their belief in Scotland’s capacity is unwavering. Let’s hope our First Minister is able to return that great compliment.