If Alex Salmond is cutting bureaucracy, why does he have so many quangos?

Escape committees

An LSE/Institute for Government report estimated the cost of Scottish independence at £2.7 billion, a sum arrived at by multiplying the 180 bodies which would need to be set up by £15 million. The SNP challenged the claim, saying it planned to set up a ‘slimmed-down’ administration. A reminder of some of the quangos already run by the Scottish government:
— Scottish Agricultural Wages Board
— Bus Users Complaints Tribunal
— Rent Assessment Panel for Scotland
— Scottish Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards
— Hill Farming Advisory Committee for Scotland
— Scottish Records Advisory Committee
— Fisheries (Electricity) Committee

Independent variables

While support for Ukip has been growing, what has happened to opinion polls of British membership of the EU?

Sources: Opinium/Observer; YouGov/Channel 5; YouGov; Ipsos/Mori

Mouse trap

Michael Gove wants to drop American classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men from the English syllabus and replace them with works by British authors. A spokesman said Mr Gove ‘really dislikes’ Of Mice and Men. Where do these books feature in polls of readers’ top 100 books?

Election returns

The last time a party other than Labour or the Conservatives failed to win the popular vote in a national election was in the 1906 general election. How did the country vote then?