§ Q9. Mr. Liptonasked the Prime Minister on how many days during 1961 he was in residence at Chequers.
§ The Prime MinisterI was at Chequers for part or the whole of fifty-four days in 1961.
§ Mr. LiptonEven though the Prime Minister is not going to stay at Chequers very much longer, will he nevertheless note that the cost of the thirteen cooks and stewardesses comes to £7,500—which is a lot of money to spend for fifty-four days?
§ The Prime MinisterChequers was a generous gift which has been of great value to my predecessors and to me, and, indeed, will be to my successors. It is used in accordance with the grant, and I have made arrangements for other Ministers to use it when I am not using it myself. It is used not merely for the personal recreation of Ministers—indeed, less and less so—but for entertaining visitors from the Commonwealth and the Colonies and foreign countries, and to hold conferences of different kinds. I do not, therefore, think that it would be right, at any rate without very great consideration, to consider repudiating this trust?