The government appeared last night to fall into confusion over the timing of its decision on the future of RAF Marham, and whether it will remain a Tornado base.

Defence secretary Liam Fox told SW Norfolk MP Elizabeth Truss yesterday that he wants the choice between Marham and RAF Lossiemouth made by the end of January. But defence minister of state Nick Harvey later told the Commons that 'it is unlikely that any decision on Tornado basing will be taken before next spring at the earliest'.

Ms Truss welcomed the signal from Dr Fox, and told the EDP that she thought the Ministry of Defence already had all the facts it could need. She hoped for a decision as soon as possible because of the 'anxiety' that was being caused at Marham.

She was also pleased to hear Dr Fox state that, in his opinion, the main determinants of the decision should be military and economic factors.

She is concerned that the elections to the Scottish Parliament in May could seriously affect the outcome, and told the Commons - after her meeting with the defence secretary - that the government ought to be influenced by 'the defence of the realm, the realities of the public purse and the real jobs and livelihoods of thousands in west Norfolk' and not 'the upcoming Scottish elections'.

Dr Fox is to receive a delegation from the newly-launched Make it Marham campaign on November 30, and a petition will be handed in to 10 Downing Street the same day.

Referring to Armistice Day, Ms Truss argued in the Commons that 'on this day of all days' everyone should remember the bravery of Britain's services and the sacrifices they had made over the years. The decision process begun with the announcement of the strategic defence and security review was causing much anxiety amongst service personnal at RAF Marham, many of whom have recently returned from combat in Afghanistan, she continued.

They knew the reality of the best place to base the Tornado, she said. And for them, and everyone, she urged the MoD and all of the government to make the decisions rationally. 'We should not play politics with people's jobs and our nation's defences', she emphasised.

The military arguments for Marham were particularly strong, she told MPs, because - unlike other bases - flights from the base had no need for in-flight refuelling on the way to Britain's forward operating base in Cyprus. It was also well located to facilitate strategic co-operation with the US at Mildenhall and Lakenheath. And the facilities in Marham had helped UK Tornado squadrons become a third more efficient in manpower than their US equivalent, and would cost up to �50m to relocate.

Mr Truss also argued that RAF Marham was in an area of 7.4pc unemployment and the Lossiemouth base in one of 4.8pc. Additionally, there were 5170 direct employees at Marham, compared with 2631 at Lossiemouth and 1810 at the nearby Kinloss base which faces closure because of the cancellation of the next generation of Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft.

If the government listened to the politics rather than the economics of the issue, she said, the net result would be moving jobs from an area of higher unemployment and deprivation, at a cost of about �50m, to a base 'strategically worse for the war we are currently engaged in'.

Mr Harvey acknowledged that Marham is 'a centre of engineering excellence' and 'one of the largest employers in Norfolk'. The decision had to be objective and unsentimental, and the government had to 'get it right', he said.

See tomorrow's EDP for the launch of the Make it Markahm campaign.