Government finally awards fair pensions to Gurkhas

10.34.41am GMT Fri 9th Mar 2007

Ex-Gurkha soldiers campaigning

You may remember I wrote about the Gurkha Justice campaign recently and urged people to sign a petition. Well the good news is that the Ministry of Defence has announced improvements to the working terms and conditions of Gurkhas serving in the British army. The announcement comes after a rally in Westminster in December, and just weeks after a campaign petition on the subject collected over 5,000 signatures on the Government's petition web site.

Defence Minister Derek Twigg said the Nepalese troops will now get the same pensions as British soldiers. Currently, they receive at least six times less and many former Gurkhas say they are left destitute. But the reforms will not apply to any who left service before July 1997.

The Gurkha Justice Campaign strongly welcomed the move, but vowed to fight on to ensure those who left the service before 1997 also received fair treatment. The Liberal Democrats have strongly backed the Gurkha Justice Campaign since 2004.

Liberal Democrat Defence Spokesperson, Willie Rennie MP said "These soldiers have served our country, and it is right that we should pay back our debt to them. This announcement is welcome for those who served after 1997, but there is still some way to go before all Gurkhas are truly treated fairly. Gurkhas should be given citizenship automatically as a right."