 In 1956 , as part of a Liverpool council delegation , the Braddocks visited the Soviet Union at the invitation of the mayor of Odessa , a city with which Liverpool had informal fraternal links . Her overall impression of the country was of drabness and oppression , with welfare provision generally well below British levels , although she conceded that medical facilities were excellent . Before returning home she informed the mayor of Odessa that " after forty years of socialism ... you haven 't achieved half of what we have in Britain " . 
