MPs were told 800 Land Rover ambulances were to be ordered along with 8,000 Defender XDs from the same manufacturer, replacing about half the Army's fleet of ageing utility vehicles. The orders are worth more than pounds 200m and should help sustain 500 jobs.The announcement coincided with the Commons' annual debate on the Army during which Nicholas Soames, the Armed Forces Minister, dwelt on the "daunting task" of recruiting enough young soldiers for the fighting end. "We have this silly speculation almost every week there is a Thursday in," Mr Major replied. "It has been nonsense in the past and its nonsense now."Speculation that the Ministry of Defence would choose Land Rover ambulances rather than an Austrian competitor proved spot on.

That would shut them up."Amid laughter from both sides, Mr Major recalled that the Sunderland MP had some experience, having run the leadership election of one of the losing candidates [Tony Benn] in an earlier Labour Party leadership election."So I take with some interest what he says, but perhaps I won't follow it to the letter."Seemingly buoyed up by the whiff of unrest, the Prime Minister dealt briskly with Ian Pearson, Labour winner of the Dudley West by-election, who wondered what difference had been made by last year's leadership contest. However reports in some of yesterday's newspapers suggested a "bloodless coup" was being considered by party "grandees".Mr Mullin said the current difficulties of the Conservative Party were not Mr Major's fault. "He simply has the bad luck to be Prime Minister at the time when the bills are coming in for the Thatcher decade."If I might offer him a word of advice, it's not a leadership election he needs to offer them, it's a general election. A new police authority should be established to oversee the unit.A separate intelligence gathering wing will be made up of the National Criminal Intelligence Service and a small number of MI5 officers. The police chiefs want NCIS to be independent from the Home Office.. John Major yesterday brushed aside fresh reports of Tory backbench moves to depose him as "silly speculation" and "nonsense".

Laughing it off during Commons Questions was made easier for the Prime Minister by Chris Mullin, Labour MP for Sunderland South, who disingenuously offered his condolences that "the 'bastards' are plotting again". The "bastards" was Mr Major's description, picked up on untransmitted tape, of right- wingers in his Cabinet. "There's a gap between the baton and the firearm and this less-than-lethal option fills that gap."Similar devices are already in use in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.The Home Office and the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, yesterday welcomed the announcement. David Maclean, the Home Office minister, said research had established that CS did not pose a significant health risk.n Chief constables also revealed that they had agreed on the structure of a national police squad to combat organised crime. The new body will have an operational wing made up of the existing six regional crime squads, which will be headed by a national co-ordinator, probably a chief constable. That threat is increasing daily."He added that there was a belief within the police that the balance of power was too far tipped in favour of the criminal.

He emphasised that officers would have to exercise discretion in using CS, and could only use "reasonable force".Jim Sharples, president of Acpo and Chief Constable of Merseyside, said the sprays were not a substitute for firearms. He said: "There's a need to balance concerns about health with the threat of violence for officers on the street. Civil liberty groups have repeatedly argued that not enough is known about the sprays.Tony Burden, Chief Constable of Gwent and chairman of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) self-defence sub-committee, admitted the sprays to be put on trial were the same as the one that injured the officer, but said the training and guidance on aftercare had been improved. A spokeswoman for the WWF said: "The answer must be to protect their wild habitat.''. JASON BENNETTO Crime Correspondent CS sprays are to be issued to about 2,500 police patrol officers throughout England and Wales in March, it was announced yesterday.Chief constables have decided to go ahead with trials of the hand-held incapacitates in 16 forces despite plans for earlier tests being halted after a police instructor was badly injured during a demonstration.Police chiefs yesterday conceded that the CS spray was potentially dangerous. However, they believe their officers need greater protection from increasingly violent offenders and armed criminals.Trials of the CS canisters, which are worn on an officer's belt and have a range of up to three metres, will last six months. If successful all officers throughout the country could eventually be issued with the devices.