10 JANUARY 1987, Page 20

Oedipus found out

Sir: The quotation from the Lord Chancel- lor's reply to a proposed amendment of mine (Free speech, 20/27 December) ma)/ have been intended to demonstrate his quaint erudition in using the example of Oedipus to counter my proposal that a mother's identity never needs to be estab- lished by blood-testing. It didn't do so veil successfully, however, because a rather important fact in his story, after all, is that Oedipus did discover his mother's identity — without having recourse, it is believed, to blood tests, tissue-typing, or DNA analysis.

Kilbracken House of Lords, London SW1