27 DECEMBER 1940, Page 5

Hard on the heels of my note of last week

on the unsatis- factory situation in air-raid shelters due to the lack of the necessary authority by shelter-marshals comes (I do not claim post hoc ergo propter hoc) the issue by the London Regional Commissioners of a valuable set of rules governing conduct in shelters. Among other things it is laid down that persons intoxicated or verminous or suffering from an infectious disease may—as of course they should—be excluded. But what is not made clear, and should be made very clear, is what powers are given to the marshals to enforce the rules.