However, according to operational Nimrod staff, the situation has not improved and the Government's announcement last month of a pounds 2bn programme to provide a force of 21 upgraded Nimrods by 2001 has not raised morale on the base."They won't be here for five years but we are labouring with these problems now," said one engineer "Besides, there is no talk of more personnel. There are times when we simply don't have enough crew to get planes in the air. Senior officers are having to leave their desk jobs and retrain to fill posts on the aircraft so we can go out and patrol. Quite simply, it's no use them promising to give us more toys if there isn't anyone to play with them."The RAF's 26 Nimrods carry out offshore surveillance duties and monitor the movement of surface shipping and nuclear submarines. The aircraft, built by British Aerospace but based on the old de Havilland Comet 4 airframe, were introduced in 1969.

They bristle with hi-tech radar and sonar equipment and carry torpedoes, Harpoon air-to-surface missiles, Sidewinder air-to- air missiles and rocket or cannon pods or mines.They also enforce shipping blockades thousands of miles from base and regularly supervise air-sea rescues.However, like all sections of the armed forces, the Nimrod air and ground crews have been cut under the Government's Options for Change initiative. Under that, RAF personnel, numbering more than 90,000 in 1990, will be reduced to 52,200 by 1999 Before the cuts, Britain had 39 Nimrods. Earlier this year, the Independent reported shortages in staff and parts affecting the performance of Britain's Tornado defence and strike forces.Under the heading "Morale", in a reference to the closure of the only other Nimrod base, at RAF St Mawgan, in Cornwall three years ago, Gp Capt Joseph's report says: "The impact that losing the fourth operational squadron has had on the remaining three squadrons should not be forgotten. Crews now get little respite from search-and-rescue and standby duties, while essential tasks and support commitments invariably involve the reserve squadron and sometimes even the training squadron. It is vicious and nasty, and is final confirmation of the sort of negative campaign they are running."It will harden up attitudes of some of their own supporters, but the general public will be disgusted by it I firmly believe it will backfire.

Ms Short's aides rejected reports that she would retire from politics over the row.Mr Mandelson, believed to be a target for some of Ms Short's criticism of "spin doctors", warned that the campaign would backfire on the Tories."What little bit of good news they have had last week has gone to their heads and they have lost any sense of decency or judgement. Mr Simpson was later praised by many sources for his part in the events of the day.He himself praised "those in the Bogside who stayed away, allowing us our celebration. I must admire those people who let us have our civil and religious liberties. We will walk with dignity and pride, making this event the best ever.

This association wishes to state our intention to walk these city walls at a time of our own choosing."The decision to accept the ban defused tension. This was welcomed by nationalists and republicans as an important precedent. Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness commended the Apprentice Boys, saying, "These events show what is possible when dialogue takes place."In Belfast yesterday one of the main republican marches of the year passed off peacefully when several thousand people walked down the Falls Road to the city centre.The turning-point in a tense weekend came at lunchtime on Saturday in Londonderry, when, after a lengthy meeting, leaders of the Apprentice Boys decided to abide by a Government decision which banned them from a section of the walls overlooking the Bogside.The organisation's governor, Alistair Simpson, stood on the city walls and announced: "Attempts to stifle our culture and heritage will not succeed. Police fired plastic bullets in return, but there were no injuries.An unusual feature in several places was that negotiations were held between Protestant marching organisations and Catholic residents. The series of negotiations in Londonderry between the Apprentice Boys and local nationalists represented the first time that such channels were publicly opened. In the event it was clear that both the Apprentice Boys and the nationalists, including Sinn Fein, were anxious to avert trouble.In Catholic areas of Londonderry, members of Sinn Fein, including former prisoners, could be seen shepherding youths away from potential confrontations with the RUC or loyalists.Violence was mostly confined to isolated incidents on the fringes of the large procession, although there were also skirmishes in a number of towns arising from smaller parades.The most serious episode came when, according to the RUC, a nationalist crowd threw "hundreds" of petrol bombs at a Londonderry police station.