Gurkhas' battle

WHEN Joanna Lumley organised her remarkable campaign to win settlement rights in Britain for Gurkha veterans, the cause was championed in Parliament by Nick Clegg and David Cameron. Since assuming office, however, the coalition's leaders have had much less to say on the Gurkha cause.
By The Newsroom
Published 14th Oct 2010, 14:16 BST
Updated 14th Oct 2010, 14:16 BST

This is a pity, as Britain's debt of honour to these doughty fighters, who have repeatedly laid their lives on the line in this country's interests, has yet to be fully repaid. In spite of Miss Lumley's victory last year, it is still the case that those Gurkha veterans who retired before July 1997 are being paid a third of the pension income received by colleagues who retired after that date.

Moreover, this glaring inequality – which the Ministry of Defence insists is fair – will continue following the MoD's

victory in the Court of Appeal yesterday.

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As if it were not bad enough that the Gurkhas' fight for justice had to rely on the ability of a popular actress to put the former Labour government to shame, they now find that they face the indignity of yet another legal and political battle, this time against an administration which might be thought to be far more sympathetic to their plight.

It is time for the Gurkhas' supporters in Government to find their voices and convince their colleagues that, financial crisis or not, injustice remains injustice.

Related topics:BritainParliamentDavid CameronGovernment