16/3/2007

Letters

Petition the Prime Minister for fairer Gurkha pensions

When, on March 8, Defence Minister Derek Twigg announced that Gurkha soldiers will have access to the same pensions as the rest of the British Army, that was very welcome news.

However, the British Gurkha Welfare Society (BGWS) has rightly pointed out that there is still a long way to go before there is fair treatment for all Gurkhas who served in the British Army before July 1 1997, which was the date when the Gurkhas became a UK-based force on completion of the withdrawal from Hong Kong.

Unfortunately for those Gurkhas, the government did not look at their pensions and benefits, maintaining that they are fair and provide for a good standard of living in Nepal, and claiming that they were demonstrated to be justifiable, including in a judicial review and subsequent High Court appeal, in 2003.

However, as ex-Gurkhas and their families have the right to settle in the UK, it is clear that they are suffering indirect race discrimination in this country, which is totally unacceptable.

It is indirect race discrimination because those Gurkhas’ pensions and benefits have conditions for them to meet, which place them at an unfair disadvantage because they are a particular racial group. That is unacceptable, and the government needs to look at this issue as a clear case of indirect racial discrimination that they must address.

I have therefore proposed to the BGWS that they submit a petition to the Prime Minister’s Petitions Online website (http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/) asking for service prior to July 1 1997 to be taken into account for all current pensioners, including all service before July 1 1997.

I support the BGWS campaign for fair treatment for Gurkhas, so that the government is encouraged to end this indirect race discrimination once and for all.

Alex Crawford
Cargate Avenue
Aldershot

First printed in: Aldershot News and Mail