Borough Gurkhas head for London in support of campaign

A PARTY of former Gurkhas from Thurrock and members of the borough branch of the Far East Veterans Association will be travelling to London tomorrow (Thursday) as part of the Gurkha Justice campaign.

During the day actress Joanna Lumley will present a petition to 10 Downing Street on behalf of campaigners who want the Government to give Gurkha soldiers who retired from service before 1997 the automatic right to settle in the UK.

Currently only Gurkhas who retired or were discharged from the Army after July 1 1997 are eligible to settle here.

Ms Lumley, whose father served with the 6th Gurkha Rifles, will be joined by Gurkha veterans at the rally in central London including two winners of the Victoria Cross - Britain's highest award for valour.

One of them, Tul Bahadur Pun VC fought alongside her father, Major James Lumley, in Burma in the Second World War.

The rally will begin in Parliament Square at 11am before a delegation of 100 retired Gurkhas, including members of Thurrock's growing Nepalese community, led by Ms Lumley, go to Downing Street at 1pm.

They will go via the Cenotaph where a wreath will be laid in honour of the Gurkhas who died serving in the British Army.

Around 225,000 people have signed the petition backing the veteran's right to settle in this country.

In September, the High Court ruled the immigration policy used to exclude pre-1997 retired Gurkhas from the UK was unlawful.

Ms Lumley said: "The response to our campaign has been loud and clear. People have signed up in massive numbers. We have received countless, emotional and touching messages of support from all across the UK and the world.

"The people have spoken. In September, the High Court struck down the existing Gurkha immigration policy because it was unlawful.

"However, that great victory did not end this issue. There is a risk the Government will now come up with 'half measures' to try and get round the court's ruling.

"The people do not want this - they want all retired British Army Gurkhas to have the right to live in the country that they were prepared to fight and die for.

"This is an historic opportunity for the Government to act decisively and to end this national shame."

On November 12, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the Government would publish new guidance on Gurkha settlement rights in the "near future".