The Gurkhas are told to go - shame on you and your Government Gordon Brown!

I've just come across this on Yahoo News:

Actress Joanna Lumley has called on the Government to "honour our debt" and support moves which would allow all retired Gurkhas to live in the UK.

Last month a High Court judge ruled the Government's immigration policy excluding them was unlawful and in need of urgent review.

More than 2,000 former Gurkha soldiers have been refused permission to settle in the UK because they retired before July 1997. The Nepalese fighters are now pressurising Parliament to implement new policy.

Miss Lumley is due to join Gurkhas and Justice campaign co-ordinator Peter Carroll at the House of Lords, where a bill which would see a change in the law will go for its third reading.

Miss Lumley, whose father served with the Gurkhas for 30 years, said: "I will be in Portcullis House asking for MPs on all sides of the House to support this bill and our Gurkha heroes. The fact that the bill has enjoyed cross Party support in the Lords is a magnificent and hopeful sign.

"I will also be asking MPs to sign up to our online petition. The Government has a historic opportunity to put right this terrible wrong. Letting this bill stand will honour our debt."

A similar bill has been introduced in the House of Commons by Bob Russell, Liberal Democrat MP for Colchester.

Campaigners are hoping to garner a million signatures for their petition and persuade the Government to pass the new laws.

Immigration rules introduced in 2004 allowed retired Gurkhas with at least four years service to settle in the UK. But the rules only apply to Gurkhas discharged from the British Army before July 1 1997.

The Bill, introduced by Lord Lee of Trafford, would allow Gurkhas who left service before 1997 to be granted indefinite leave to enter and remain in the UK.

The above post is down to Alan.

I tried to edit the text and messed up big time! Good job I copied it first eh?

Thanks Alan!

Here is the latest update from our Miss Lumley -

I'm delighted to be able to say that the Gurkha Justice Campaign now has
over 55,000 signatures - thank you so much.
 
I've recorded a special video message for all the supporters of the
Gurkha Justice Campaign which you can see
at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=InjrGSHMQ2I and you can find more
information at our newly updated web site www.gurkhajustice.org.uk
 
Please do make sure all your family, friends, colleagues know about the
petition at www.gurkhajustice.org.uk - I REALLY want to get more
signatures, and need your help. If everyone getting this email could
encourage just 20 friends to sign, we'd beat our target immediately.
 
I was delighted to be in Westminster on Monday at the third reading of
Lord Lee of Trafford's Immigration (Discharged Gurkhas) Bill in the
House of Lords (http://tinyurl.com/3nekbe). The bill was unopposed in
the Lords, and now goes to the House of Commons - if there is enough
time in this session. Although it's apparently quite rare for a Private
Members Bill to get accepted by the Government, I hope they will do so
in this case - it simply does everything we want. We just need to
convince the Government to agree.
 
After the third reading debate was over, I went to a meeting with some
real ex-Gurkha heroes including Honorary Lieutenant Tul Bahadur Pun VC
who served as a Chindit in Burma with my father. At the meeting, it was
fantastic to receive pledges of support from lots of MPs, peers and
campaigners from all parties (and crossbenchers) to support Lord Lee's
Bill.
 
Many people have asked for a petition form they can give to family and
friends - this can be downloaded
from http://gurkhajustice.org.uk/gurkha_campaign_petition_form.pdf or
they can sign up on the site directly.
 
With warmest good wishes,
 
Joanna
www.gurkhajustice.org.uk
 
PS. As you can see in the video, I've made good use of my Gurkha Justice
t-shirt this week - a really simple way to show my support for the
campaign and get the web site address out quickly. So many people have
asked where they can get one that we've set up an online shop - so you
can buy a Gurkha Justice t-shirt or sweatshirt and help spread the word
with pride too.
 
You can buy from http://gurkhajustice.spreadshirt.net - every item sold
from this online shop will make the campaign a small profit which will
be used to further promote the cause.

You beat me to it Lyn B but as you notice mine is now history!

Thanks for all your support folks...Ron