§ Mr. WilshireTo ask the Prime Minister if he will list those who have accompanied (i) him and (ii) his departmental Ministers on overseas visits since 1 January indicating(a) the venue of the visit, (b) the purpose of the visit, (c) the names of those involved, (d) the job of those involved, (e) the reasons why they were included in the visit and (f) the cost to public funds. [53840]
§ The Prime Minister[holding answer 30 July 1998]: All overseas visits by Ministers are conducted in accordance with the principles set out in the Ministerial Code. Information is not held in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
However, I can confirm that since 1 January 1998 I have been accompanied by officials and others on the following overseas visits:
Date Place visited Purpose 8–13 January Japan Bilateral visit 20 January The Hague Bilateral visit 4–7 February Washington1 Bilateral visit 20 March Bonn Bilateral visit 24 March Paris Bilateral visit 10–15 April Southern Spain Meeting with Spanish Prime Minister/Holiday 17–21 April Middle East Tour in capacity as Presidency of the European Council 1 May The Hague Bilateral visit 2 May Brussels1 Special European Council on EMU 19 May Geneva 50th Anniversary of GATT 1–9 June Various European capitals Pre-European Council Tour 17–18 June Strasbourg Speech to European Parliament 30 June Frankfurt1 Opening of European Central Bank 1–15 August Italy Meeting with Italian Prime Minister/Holiday 15–25 August France Meeting with French Prime Minister/Holiday 26 August Republic of Ireland Bilateral visit 21 September New York Addressing UN General Assembly 5–11 October China and Hong Kong Bilateral visit 1 Indicates that a Ministerial colleague accompanied me On each occasion, I was accompanied by Private Office staff and security and secure telecommunications staff who travel with a Prime Minister on an overseas visit. This is in line with the practice adopted by previous Administrations.