His revelation yesterday that "organophosphate pesticides were used more widely in the Gulf than we had previously been led to believe" was seen as a softening in the government stance.Some veterans blame their listlessness, nausea and aching limbs on the tablets the troops were given to protect them from chemical attack by the Iraqis. Those who believe in the so-called Gulf war syndrome say it has caused at least 15 deaths. The families of 30 more Gulf veterans who have taken their own lives blame the experience of the Gulf for bringing on depression which led to their suicides.The MoD still refuses to acknowledge that Gulf war syndrome exists.Nicholas Soames, the armed forces minister, said last year that the veterans' claims were "a mixture of unsubstantiated rumour and incorrect information". But it should have come earlier."Mr Ash is one of 740 Gulf veterans suing the Ministry of Defence for compensation for illness they have suffered since returning from the conflict.

He left the Army and although he has found work as a local government officer, he is registered as 60 per cent disabled.Now 29, he greeted yesterday's announcement by the Ministry of Defence with relief: "It is very good that eventually somebody has stood up and said, `Hang on, we have done something wrong here and we have not investigated it in the manner that we should have.'"It shows that, five years after the guys first started complaining, the MoD are finally accepting that they may have damaged the lads. "I was constantly vomiting, I had pains in my joints and my stomach hurt so much I thought I had ulcers," he said. He had to give up football and then began to show symptoms of serious illness. We just assumed it was because of the mosquitoes."It was only after Mr Ash returned from the war - as a hero - to his Northumberland home that he realised he may not have escaped unscathed.Suddenly, the once super-fit infantryman was so weak he could hardly walk. We didn't really have time to take notice of what was going on and nobody told us they were spraying us for a reason. Aircraft spewed the chemicals on to the "tent villages" while soldiers walked around with hand-held sprays to douse their colleagues.Mr Ash said: "It was just like a mist of the stuff.