The potential economic implications of the proposals in “A Fresh Start with Independence” are set out in the paper itself and in its two accompanying publications on “The macroeconomic framework of an independent Scotland and the measurement of economic flows” and “Questions and Answers”.

I remind Mr Bibby—I know that it is difficult for him to accept, having lost the last election—that the majority of MSPs in the Parliament were elected on a manifesto commitment that there should be an independence referendum and that the public should be informed about the updated position on the opportunities that independence provides.

I know that Mr Bibby does not agree with that, but he lost the election, and this party won it, and we are doing what we said that we were going to do. We are providing more funding for culture and the arts than his party even called for, and I am proud of that. This party voted for it, the Conservatives voted against it—-and Neil Bibby bravely abstained.

Following my written correspondence with Scottish Television, I met the broadcaster on 6 November to emphasise the critical importance of protecting jobs that are based in the media industry in Scotland and the vital outputs of regional news services. During the coming weeks, I will also meet the regulator, Ofcom, and the National Union of Journalists to discuss the implications of the proposals.

I recognise the anxiety of the situation for many affected staff members and communities, particularly those in northern Scotland, and I reaffirm the Scottish Government’s commitment to protect sustainable jobs, maintain regional representation and uphold the broadcaster’s public service obligations.

I agree with Audrey Nicoll that regional news is a crucial part of our media landscape. I also absolutely agree that the north-east of Scotland is a huge part of that in terms of both audiences and journalistic talent. That is why I met Scottish Television last week to press the importance of protecting jobs for media professionals right across Scotland. I will also meet Ofcom and the National Union of Journalists in the coming weeks to discuss STV’s proposals and to set out the Scottish Government’s deep concerns. Throughout those on-going engagements, I will continue to emphasise our strong opposition to proposals that put sustainable Scottish jobs and the outputs of vital news services at risk.

Mr MacDonald has asked an important question: what is the consequence of remaining in a suboptimally performing state, which is the United Kingdom? It does not perform as well as our neighbouring countries. Those are facts—I know that it is difficult for the people who opposed independence to accept those facts. The cost of not becoming independent is that we do not have the levers at our disposal to be able to match our neighbouring countries, which are healthier, wealthier and fairer than the United Kingdom. Incidentally, there is only one route back to the European Union, which is to have a referendum in Scotland on becoming an independent member state. The Conservatives oppose rejoining the European Union, as does the Labour Party. In our Government and Parliament, there is a majority for rejoining the EU, and the only way to do that is for the country to become independent.

I thank Claire Baker for raising the issue of Burntisland parish church and for extending an invitation, which I am happy to accept. It is important to note that communities, in seeking to understand their options for the future use of churches, are best advised by those whose job it is to do so—in this instance, Historic Environment Scotland. However, I am happy to be apprised of the situation. I have seen some really good examples of potential new uses for churches. Perhaps some of those are options that are currently being explored by the community itself, and I would be happy to hear about that.

Murdo Fraser has made a very good point. First, there is the issue of the accelerating rate at which churches are being disposed of across denominations. Incidentally, it is not just the Christian church but other faith groups which have been disposing of property, because of societal change and so on. I think that everybody understands that.

Secondly, we have the specific point that Murdo Fraser has raised, which is about the speed of disposal, which may be too quick for communities to have the option to get the best advice.

I assure Murdo Fraser that advice and information are available through the Historic Environment Scotland website. As we heard from Claire Baker, there has been Historic Environment Scotland involvement with other community groups. If Murdo Fraser has specific issues about specific sites and communities, I would be grateful if he could forward those to me. I am having discussions with the Church of Scotland and other denominations to best understand what we can do, because, if the process is accelerating, that will present an even greater challenge—albeit, potentially, an opportunity—and we have to make our way through the process as well as we can.

I am confident that the report will be published as planned. On Stephen Kerr’s point about transparency, I have no doubt that the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, of which he is a member, will make sure that it has the best possible answers from Creative Scotland and from the review process so that he and other members can satisfy themselves about the conclusions that are presented. I have not seen those conclusions; I look forward to seeing them. I lay great weight and store on the advice that we will be receiving, and I look forward to seeing that report as planned.

I say to Mr Halcro Johnston, so that he can read this, that those statistics, including from the OECD, are on pages 35, 36 and 37 of the report—although I do not know whether he knows what the OECD is.

I need to make sure that the new leadership of Historic Environment Scotland has the resources at its disposal to get itself through the difficult process that it needs to get through as an arm’s-length body, and that is what I undertake to do as cabinet secretary.