Republican John McCain said today that as president he would like to introduce a question and answer session in the US Congress which would be modelled on the UK's Prime Minister's Questions.
He said exchanges such as those in the House of Commons were a way of holding leaders accountable.
Mr McCain said he would use the British example to set a "new standard for transparency and accountability" in America.
"I will ask Congress to grant me the privilege of coming before both houses to take questions, and address criticism, much the same as the Prime Minister of Great Britain appears regularly before the House of Commons."
Mr McCain, who met Prime Minister Gordon Brown when he visited the UK in March, said: "My administration will set a new standard for transparency and accountability."
"I will hold weekly press conferences. I will regularly brief the American people on the progress our policies have made and the setbacks we have encountered.
``When we make errors, I will confess them readily, and explain what we intend to do to correct them.''
US presidents deliver annual ``State of the Union'' speeches to Congress at the start of each year, but the formal occasions do not include a question-and-answer session, and President George Bush holds press conferences roughly once a month, not weekly.
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