§ 35. Mr. Leatherasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many officers of his Department flew on official journeys between the United Kingdom and the United States of America on commercial airlines; and how many flew first class and how many tourist class in the last twelve months for which figures are available.
§ Mr. ProfumoBetween 1st February, 1958, and 31st January, 1959, seventy-two, of which fifty-one flew first class.
§ Mr. LeatherWould my hon. Friend say whether the allocations as to who goes first class and who goes tourist are laid down by any rule of seniority or if it is purely at the discretion of the head of the mission?
§ Mr. ProfumoThe rule for the Foreign Office is that only officers of the rank of Counsellor (A6) and above may travel first class if tourist seats are available. However, the figures I have given do not give a picture of what usually happens since two of these major journeys had to be changed at the last minute when there were no tourist seats available.