Defence Team Join Gurkha Protests

Last week, I and my colleagues in the Lib Dem defence team joined hundreds of Gurkhas in a protest outside the Houses of Parliament. Currently, Gurkhas who served in the British Army before 1997 do not have the right to British citizenship, and receive only a fraction of the pension afforded to British service personnel. The former Nepalese soldiers gathered outside St Stephen’s Gate this morning were quite rightly demanding an end to this flagrantly unjust treatment.

The defence team were out in force to support this campaign, and were humbled by the turnout and by the mood among these brave ex-servicemen. It is not often that we come face-to–face with such courage and determination - and such ill-treatment in return. In a particularly poignant gesture, fifty Gurkhas handed back their Long Service and Good Conduct medals – in one case, an MBE - in protest. My colleague Nick Clegg, leader of the Lib Dems, has pledged to keep the medals safe until the Gurkhas are granted their proper rights.

 The Lib Dems are backing a bill that would grant the Gurkhas the basic rights that they’ve earned for their unstinting service – hopefully, these brave men will wear their medals again before long.