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Gurkhas are big issue of the week
SINCE Friday I've received an incredible number of letters and e-mails from people concerned about the fate of the Gurkhas - I really can't recall when I have received so many letters on one topic in such a short time.
It all stems from last October's High Court ruling which declared that it would be unlawful to prevent Gurkhas who had served in the British Army before 1997 from settling in the UK. As a consequence the Home Office was forced to look again at its rules.
It is without doubt that the new range of criteria, announced on Friday, will deny the vast majority of Gurkhas any real chance of coming to the UK – it is restrictive, unfair and ungenerous.
A Gurkha would, for example, have had to have served in the British Army for twenty years before being granted the right to settle. Unfortunately, riflemen – who make up the bulk of applicants – are allowed to serve for no more than fifteen years.
By contrast soldiers from Commonwealth countries who have served for just four years are able to move here. It just seems wrong.
We must remember that 200,000 Gurkhas fought for the Allied cause in both world wars and 43,000 lost their lives. Indeed, they have fought for our country in every war ever since and there are currently 3,400 Gurkhas serving in the United Kingdom forces.
We must be fair and generous to our veterans to whom, as a nation, we owe a debt of gratitude; but we must also establish and maintain a controlled immigration policy and ensure that our welfare budget is not compromised.
We have already said that we would introduce a limit on visas allowed under the Points-Based System (PBS), making it essential that those who come here will benefit British society.
Of course, Gurkhas – and other foreign-born ex-service personnel – have already contributed to our society and have therefore earned the right to settle here.
And so, we would create a new tier within the PBS which, each year, would allow a specified number of visas for non-UK ex-servicemen and women.
This would allow Gurkhas – and others – to settle in an ordered and affordable way and it would also preserve the integrity of our immigration system.
On Wednesday, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour rebels joined forces and voted for a motion calling for the scrapping of the new restrictive rules.
The upshot is that the Government has been forced to agree to review the rules again. Let's hope they listen to overwhelming public opinion and enable the Gurhkas to settle in the country they have served.
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Weather for Horsham
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Thunderstorm
Temperature: 14 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
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