§ Q7. Mr. Danceasked the Prime Minister what official visits have been paid by Her Majesty's Ministers to the United States of America since 12th August, 1966.
§ The Prime MinisterIn addition to those visits listed in the Answer I gave on 18th October to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham, North (Mr. Arthur Lewis), my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster visited the United States of America from 8th to 11th November.
§ Mr. DanceIs not the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Minister of Transport was on a lecturing tour to America which did not improve Anglo-American relations? Would not he agree that a small fraction of the cost of her trip would have been better spent teaching her to drive so that she could see at first hand the frustration the British motorist has on our present roads?
§ The Prime MinisterI did not catch the concluding words of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question. He seemed to be addressing his hon. Friends behind him. He was not turning to face you, Mr. Speaker, or me, so I could not hear what he said. I think that I caught the drift of the early part of his question. My right hon. Friend's visit was concerned with studying American techniques in matters of transport, especially urban transportation.
As to whether or not it improved Anglo-American relations, the hon. Gentleman usually has a high standard in these matters, and he should not believe all that he reads in the Press. Nor should he be carried away from his usual posture of stability by a recent television programme in which somebody with a high degree of publicity in America came over and gave a falsified account of what my right hon. Friend said there.