§ Q13. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Prime Minister for how long he had discussions with the President of the United States of America during his most recent visit; how long he was away from London; why he had urgently to return to London by the afternoon of Saturday, 30th July, 1966; why these talks were not held by the scrambled private telephone line between his office and that of the President; what was the total cost of the visit; and what would have been the cost had these talks taken place by telephone.
§ The Prime Minister4½ hours, including the discussions over luncheon; 44 hours including night hours and Saturday morning and my visit to Ottawa; I did not urgently return—it had always been my intention to return as soon as the talks were completed; because talks of the kind held which, of course, also included talks with American and Canadian Ministers and talks between senior advisers and officials on both sides could not have been conducted by telephone; the total cost of the visit is not yet known; as a telephone discussion was not a practicable alternative to the visit, no meaningful cost could be put to it.