12 FEBRUARY 2000, Page 28

Nuclear reaction

From Mr Malcolm Jackson Sir: One of the small mysteries of the pre- sent age is how the originally vaguely pejora- tive term 'nuclear family' (social isolation, lack of wider support network, etc.) — con- trasting with the 'traditional' extended fami- ly (wide network of mutual support, inter- generational contact, etc.) — has now come to be a 'hooray' phrase in 'traditionally minded' circles. In your editorial (29 Jan- uary) you referred to the Tories' endorsing the 'conventional nuclear family'. As opposed to what? The even more nuclear single-parent family?

Malcolm Jackson

London SE22