Gurkha Pensions

Maria Miller Excerpts

Monday 22nd November 2021 Westminster Hall

[Mrs Maria Miller (Basingstoke) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. I thank the Petitions Committee for making time for the debate, and my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Jonathan Gullis) for eloquently leading it. I agree with many of the things he said. For time’s sake, I will not repeat most of them, but I particularly agree on making sure that our relationship with Nepal, as well as the Gurkhas, is as strong as it can be. He underlined our support for them around the covid pandemic.

Gurkhas have made an outstanding contribution to the UK over many years of dedicated service, and they are rightly held in high esteem by the British Army and the British public. I have had the honour of meeting many Gurkha veterans in my constituency, because we have one of the larger Nepalese communities in the UK, being just down the road from Aldershot, the constituency of my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence People and Veterans. I also had the opportunity to meet Gurkha soldiers during my time in the armed forces parliamentary scheme. Although I do not have the years under my belt of some esteemed Members here who served in the armed forces, having met some of those soldiers at first hand in conflict zones, I understand their tenacity and resilience, which was writ large.

My constituency is proud of its large Nepalese community; many are Gurkha veterans who served our country bravely and whose families decided to make the UK their home. Gurkha veterans and their wider families play a central role in Basingstoke, including at civic events like Remembrance Sunday very recently, demonstrating the importance of remembering the contribution of people across the globe to protecting our way of life on these shores.

More than 700 people in Basingstoke signed the petition for today’s debate. I thank the Petitions Committee for the opportunity to underline the importance of fairness in how we support every member and former member of the British armed forces. Fairness in pensions and in the way we treat Gurkhas at the end of their military career has been central to the many conversations and meetings I have had with my constituents who have Nepalese heritage over a number of years.

[Matthew Pennycook (Greenwich and Woolwich) (Lab)]

On fairness, does the right hon. Lady agree that, when we are talking about the need for pension parity, we are talking about not just Gurkha veterans themselves, but widows and other family members, who number in their many thousands, including in south east London? When looking at welfare in the round and at what the bilateral committee might look into, widows in receipt of the GPS must be at the forefront of the Government’s mind.

[Mrs Miller]

The hon. Member has pointed out the complexities of the discussions that will take place in the coming weeks. I am sure the Minister heard his remark and perhaps he will pick up on it later on. The welfare of all veterans, including Gurkhas, could not be more important, and welfare is, of course, at the heart of the armed forces covenant, brought in by this Government to ensure the best support for those who have done so much for our country.

[Fay Jones (Brecon and Radnorshire) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend mentions the importance of veterans. Does she agree that Wales being the only country not to have a veterans commissioner at the moment is a misstep? Will she join me in urging the Welsh Government to create such a position?

[Mrs Miller]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. Of course, I join her in that call. I have seen at first hand the importance of the covenant in the way it has driven this Government’s commitment to veterans, as well as serving the armed forces and their families. It is really a tried and tested approach. The covenant is a pledge that acknowledges the bravery of those who served our country and their families, too, and that they should be treated with fairness and respect in our communities, economy and society.

I know the pension schemes in place for Gurkha veterans have been scrutinised by the courts on a number of occasions, and that the basis for the way Gurkha pensions are set out has been upheld in no less than three judicial reviews since 2003, including a European Court of Human Rights case. However, it is right to always keep these matters under review, and I am sure the Minister will update us on how he is doing that.

I am absolutely delighted that it is my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence People and Veterans who is replying to today’s debate. He and the Secretary of State have already made it clear that they have met a wide range of Gurkha representative groups, as well as the Nepalese ambassador, and have committed to further talks, including at a bilateral committee, to discuss these issues in the coming weeks. It will be important to hear more details of that work. That is obviously in addition to other measures that my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent North has already gone through, which I will not repeat.

Many of the representations I have had from my constituents also refer to the issue of fees for non-UK service personal applying to settle in the UK at the end of their military service. It will be important to hear more from the Minister about the work that the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence are doing to analyse the responses to a consultation on that specific issue. We need a system that is clearly fair for everybody involved.

The Nepalese community in my constituency are an incredible asset to the town in so many ways that time does not allow for me go into them now. However, I pay particular tribute to Mr Om Gurung, chair of the Basingstoke Nepalese Community, Mrs Poonam Gurung, the former head of the Non-Resident Nepali Association UK, Gurkhas such as Captain Pancha Rai, who fought in the Falklands and is one of seven people who opened our Gurkha Grocery Shop in the centre of town, and the many who have campaigned on the issue of pensions, including Dhan Gurung.

Like so many who have spoken today, I hope that my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence People and Veterans will be able to give us more details of the plans to work with Gurkha representatives to resolve the issues around pensions and immigration fees. I know that, like us, he wants to see a fair way forward for everybody involved.