13 JUNE 1958, Page 6

MY RELATIVELY PLEASANT impressions of the journey from London Airport

to Waterloo during the strike were not, I see, shared by Mr. Alistair Cooke. But then he was ill-advised enough to go by taxi. In his broadcast 'Letter from England; following his holiday in Europe, the only com- plaint he had to make about his stay here was of the decline in morality among London taxi- drivers. He took as his instance the way in which one of them, after bringing him into London from the airport, proceeded to charge him double what was on the clock, explaining that the journey was over the regulation mileage. Mr. Cooke did not object to the charge, but he was understand- ably angry that he should have been given no advance notice of it; and he points out that nothing could be more calculated to infuriate a tourist arriving (or leaving) than the feeling that he has been deliberately stung. Surely it would be simple enough to make it obligatory for taxi- drivers to warn passengers who are travelling more than the regulation distance? Some drivers do; but I suspect more do not. The decline in their manners as a result of the strike, which I noticed a couple of weeks ago, has continued;