Gordon Brown has done a U-turn on the gurkha’s settlement rights here in the UK.
I am very pleased the gurkha’s are finally allowed to take up residence here in Great Britain, but should they have had to suffer the humiliation of having to fight so long and hard against the government for the right to live in the country they have fought for?
During the last two years, they have had to battle the government in the courts, in the houses of parliament and even in spite of a colossal wave of public support our ‘out of touch’ government have thrown every obstacle possible in their path to fair treatment while welcoming those who have stated objectives of harming the country.
Well Done to actress Joanna Lumley for your stand and efforts on this important issue and a big big WELCOMEto the Gurkha’s.
When the dust settles will we see Immigration secretary Phil Woolas resign his post due to gross incompetence for having dispatched letters to the Gurkha’s telling them their claims had been rejected only days after the PM stated the matter would be reconsidered?
Will the PM resign for having let a situation as sensitive as this get to such a point?
i doubt it, after all the government has been humiliated so many times now not just on this issue but on so many that i am beginning to think that their embarrassment threshold his actually non existent.
Gordon Brown has been humiliated in the commons during a vote on Gurkha’s rights to settle in the UK at the hands of the opposition and some of his own backbenchers.
This humiliation was dished out by Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and his motion calling for the scrapping of restrictions placed upon Gurkha’s rights to settle in the UK.
The Vote was supported by the Conservatives and Telegraph.co.uk reports that some 27 Labour back benchers defied party orders and voted with the opposition.
The BBC’s News 24 channel broadcast that with the number of Labour MP’s that abstained from the vote, that the number of backbenchers that refused to vote with the government could be as many as 100.
The defeat came only hours after the home secretary Jacqui Smith made last minute compromises to try and secure a government victory in the vote but it was a case of Too little, Too late it seems.
Telegraph.co.uk, also reports the PM as saying that to admit all Gurkha’s would cost £1.4billion.
The Times Online website reported David Cameron as saying: “The basic presumption that people who fight for our country should have a right to come and live in our country has been set out very clearly. The Government has now got to come back with immediate proposals so that those Gurkhas who have been waiting so long for an answer can have that answer.”
Given the vast amounts of money the government pours into the EC and any other cause detrimental to the UK i would have thought that £1.4billion to allow veterans who have risked life and limb for this country is a small price to pay.
The Gurkha’s are not just any kind of immigrant, They are soldiers who have fought for this country ever since 1815.
I would love to know what kind of deranged reasoning our illustrious un-elected PM uses to ban Gurkha’s from settling in the UK when he allows any other Immigrant to set up camp here while spouting anti-British rhetoric while the brave soldiers who defended this country and its interests have to rely on legal battles and public petitions to stand just a hope of being allowed of living here.
The government has claimed as many as 100,000 Gurkha’s could flood into the UK, The Gurkha’s and their supporters have rubbished that claim. Personally i would rather see 100,000 Gurkha’s come to britain than the countless hundreds of thousands of immegrants that the government currently and openly welcomes. In fact as a born and bred white brit, i would personally hold the door open and welcome the Gurkha’s to britain.
While the result isnt legally binding, it does however put the PM in a sticky situation. He has to do something. Now more than ever before it should be obvious to him that not only will the conservatives and lib dems unite forces against him BUT also that he is losing control of his own party.
Please support the Gurkha’s by signing the online petitions below.
How difficult can it be? This is hardly rocket science… BUT,
The Government has managed to screw up yet another simple issue. Thousands of gurkhas who have fought for the UK has been betrayed by Gordon Browns government yet again.
Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said the changes would allow around 4,300 more former Gurkhas to settle in the country out of the 36,000 who served in the British Army before July 1997.
But supporters of the Gurkhas’ campaign attacked the new criteria as “unattainable” for all but 100 Gurkhas and actress Joanna Lumley said she felt “ashamed” of the Government.
Ragprasad Purja, 43, who served with the Gurkhas for 17 years, said: “It is the saddest day for the Gurkhas and the saddest day for the British Government. I cannot believe that this Government made such a decision. I was proud of my service but now I am very sad.”
Mr Purja, who was discharged after 1997, said he would continue campaigning for the former Gurkha soldiers who have been refused permission to settle in the UK.
He added: “It’s not justice, so we’ll keep on fighting.”
Please consider signing these petitions below for the brave soldiers who have fought for this country.