asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether special gas masks are being provided for children or, if not, by what alternative method they are to be protected, especially small children?

The whole question of the protection of the civil population against poison gas, by the use of respirators and otherwise, is under consideration by the Air Raid Precautions Department. Special attention is being paid to the needs of young children.

Will it be any satisfaction to parents wearing their gas masks to see their babies dying of suffocation? Has the hon. and gallant Gentleman no policy for their protection?

The whole of these precautions are in an embryo state, and I can only suggest that on this subject the hon. Member should take the classic advice of the late respected leader of his party, "Wait and see."

Do the Government propose to leave the invention and advertisement of gas masks to private enterprise, as is being done in America?

Yes, but under the very close supervision of the Air Raid Precautions Department.

asked the Home Secretary the approximate cost of a gas-proof shelter; and what would be the cost of gas-proof shelters for the London area, and for Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff, and Birmingham, respectively?

Any room which is in a reasonably good state of repair can be made gas-proof at a comparatively small cost, and it is intended in general to advise the use of suitably protected rooms in private houses and business or other premises rather than special gas proof shelters. It is impossible to form any general estimate of the expenditure required for this purpose.