Feature: Will Scottish Western Isles turn their backs on Brussels again?

Political observers in Britain are wondering how the people of the Western Isles of Scotland will vote in Thursday's Brexit referendum.

In 1975, when Britons voted by a big majority to stay in what was then the European Economic Community (EEC), people in the far-flung corner of Britain voted by a massive margin to leave.

Over 70 percent ticked the leave box, one of just two areas in the whole country to go against the flow. The other "out" area was also in Scotland, the Shetlands. Moreover, only half of the 11,500 islanders in what is Britain's smallest parliamentary constituency, voted.

Now known by its Scottish gaelic name of Na h-Eileanan an lar, the capital of the Western Isles, Stornoway on the island of Lewis, was established more than 1,000 years ago.

It seems that while the island community has benefited from being in the EU, there is still a lot of dissent among the 23,000 islanders.

The famous Hebrides Harris Tweed mill is working at full capacity, with around a third of what it makes exported to Europe.

The EU has given protection to traditional black puddings made at WJ MacDonald butchery in Stornoway, using blood, fat and oatmeal blended locally. Regulations approved in Brussels gives the meaty black puddings the same legal protection as French champagne.

Scallops and langoustines landing on the island are exported to the restaurants of France and Spain. EU money was used to build a bridge to one of the remote islands where just 300 people reside.

The fishermen of the Western Isles, though, feel anger at the EU's strict common fishing policy which forces them to throw some of their catch back into the sea.

Islander Ronnie Scott said in one media interview at his shellfish shop on the harbor at Stornoway that he wants to cut the EU out of deciding who can catch what.

"There are people over in Europe that don't know where we are. They don't understand our fishing. The boats here should be allowed to land what they catch, a sensible fishing rather than this EU regulation," said Scott.

In the 1975 referendum, 67.2 percent of the vote, opted to remain in the EEC Common Market, while 32.8 percent chose leave. In the Western Isles,70.1 percent voted leave and 29.5 percent voted stay.

Angus MacNeil, Scottish Nationalist Party MP for the Western Isles, has called on islanders to vote Remain.

He warns a Brexit win would impact on Scotland more than the rest of Britain, adding that for every pound Scotland pays to Brussels, 20 pounds (29.29 U.S. dollars) comes back.

The value to Na h-Eileanan an Iar of EU membership should not be underestimated, he said in a message to the island community, published in the island's newspaper.

"Na h-Eileanan an Iar/Western Isles is a key example of how EU funding has protected rural communities," he wrote, adding that "hundreds of island projects have benefited from EU funding, not least through major investment in roads, bridges and causeways."

Whether 41 years on there has been a change of heart in one of the far flung corners of Britain will be known in just a few days. Enditem