I am rather confused by Mr Salmond's response. His colleague Richard Lochhead seems to think that quangos are rather a good thing. In June, he said that making Quality Meat Scotland a quango would

"give increased leadership, not just to the benefit of the livestock sector, but the food industry as a whole."

Does Mr Salmond agree that Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency give strong leadership on the environment, and that SNH and SEPA should be maintained as separate bodies? If quango status is good enough for red meat, surely it is good enough for the environment. Is he going to go ahead with their merger, as stated in his manifesto? Yes or no?