Gurkha Pensions

Rob Wilson Excerpts

Thursday 11th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rob Wilson (Reading East) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Roger Williams) and the other Members who made powerful speeches.

I am delighted to speak in this debate. I have taken a keen interest in the campaigns that have been undertaken by the Gurkhas for a number of years. I am pleased to hear that the inquiry is making good progress under the excellent stewardship of my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jackie Doyle-Price). I look forward to reading the full report and recommendations very soon. I congratulate my hon. Friend and the Backbench Business Committee on holding this debate, which comes one year shy of the 200th anniversary of the Gurkhas first serving in the British Army.

Any mention of the Gurkhas would not be complete without paying tribute to their service and their bravery. From Sierra Leone to Kosovo, the Gurkhas have been a fixture of the British armed forces. Their skill and bravery have been widely praised again this afternoon. The Gurkhas have served in every major conflict in which Britain has been involved since the Falklands. If any group of people are deserving of this House’s time and attention, it is these brave soldiers and veterans.

Because of their history and record, the Gurkhas command widespread public support. There is a great strength of feeling that they should receive fair treatment from the Ministry of Defence and the British Government. The treatment of the Gurkhas should not have been reliant on a campaign led by Joanna Lumley, although her dedication and tireless zeal were admirable. This issue holds the attention of the wider public. That is certainly the case in my constituency, where there is a significant Nepalese community. It is estimated that between 1,500 and 2,000 Gurkhas live in the Reading area. It is not just the Nepalese community that feels strongly about the treatment of the Gurkhas: at the height of the campaign for residency in 2009, people from all backgrounds asked me to intervene and support the campaign. Perhaps with hindsight one can say that those people did not all fully understand the consequences of the changes that were made.

The Gurkhas in my local community are supported by a number of fantastically hard-working local charities, such as the Reading Ex-British Gurkha Association and the Gurkha veteran centre. Those organisations provide much needed practical support and a sense of community and friendship for Gurkhas.

I fear that I am personally responsible for some of the work load of my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock on this issue. Indeed, this morning I received a handwritten note from her:

“Do hope you can join the debate on Thursday—you got me into this!”

I am afraid I plead guilty, although it was actually my constituent Gyanraj Rai, who was on hunger strike last year in Downing street. He is a friend and someone I campaigned alongside for years, so it was very distressing to see him literally fading away, and I wanted to stop him taking his life. With the support of my hon. Friend, I managed to broker a deal that led to the Gurkha welfare all-party group inquiry, which I hope will lead to a more congenial relationship between Gurkhas and the MOD in future.

I do not regret getting my hon. Friend into this. She has done an outstanding job so far and should have all our thanks and congratulations. However, I stand by the view I gave at the time that the tactic of hunger striking was misguided, and in a democracy that cannot be the way to conduct or resolve an honest debate. The Government are put in the invidious position that if they give in there will be a procession of other hunger strikers outside Downing street who think they will be successful. Even more importantly, it put huge strain on the local community, and even more so on the family of Gyanraj Rai. I remember when it was over that Mr Rai’s wife sought me out in the crowd, embraced me, broke down in tears and thanked me for helping to end the hunger strike. I think we both knew that he would have gone through to the bitter end. With the establishment of the inquiry, I am hopeful that a real discussion can be triggered about the Gurkhas’ wider grievances and concerns, not just pensions but health care, education and other issues that have affected the community.

[Jackie Doyle-Price]

Having been reminded of the events around the hunger strike, I wish to put it on the record—I would welcome my hon. Friend’s feedback on this—just how positive it has been to see all the Gurkha groups positively engage with the institutions of our democracy. As my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Roger Williams) said, we had upwards of 200 Gurkhas at each of the meetings. Let us go ahead in the spirit of that mature dialogue.

[Mr Wilson]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. From this point onwards it is important to keep that type of engagement going, and I hope to say a little more about that.

We are talking not just about pensions but about wider issues of health care, education and so on. I worry that in the past Governments did not truly listen to the Gurkha community, but as a consequence of my hon. Friend’s inquiry that cannot continue to be the case. I wish to draw the House’s attention to two parts of the evidence given to the inquiry that I feel are particularly noteworthy, and I hope Ministers will take time to respond to them comprehensively.

The first is the evidence given by my friend and constituent Gyanraj Rai. His description of poverty in Nepal was moving and should throw into sharp focus the importance of the subject under discussion. As my hon. Friend the Member for Aldershot (Sir Gerald Howarth) said, there is perhaps a bigger role for the Department for International Development in Nepal, with the UK giving more assistance to health services and education to veterans. Education and trade are ways we can build a better future for Nepal, but it will take time and a lot of effort. I hope we can reflect some of that in the report.

[Mr Gray]

My hon. Friend mentioned Nepal, and one point we have not touched on is the downside in Nepal of the Gurkhas being resettled in the United Kingdom, which is significant. I visited a number of DFID bases in Nepal and they do fantastic work, particularly in educating women in Nepal. We should pay tribute to DFID for the huge contribution that Britain makes to some of those efforts in that country.

[Mr Wilson]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. Some hon. Friends and colleagues from across the House are visiting Nepal, and it would be useful to get their feedback on what is happening on the ground. A lot of people have left Nepal to come to the UK, and one worries that there is a hollowing out of the community and society there because of that.

Gyanraj gave an account of his experience of what he described as a punitive approach to discipline, leading to some Gurkhas losing their pensions. If that has been the case, and evidence is provided for it, I hope that the Ministry of Defence will look into the matter carefully and respond accordingly.

I was also interested to read the Government’s response to the inquiry’s questions, which I felt for the first time put many of the Gurkhas’ questions properly on the record in one place. I thank the Ministers responsible for their work. I feel that many of their arguments are persuasive, especially with regard to the general principle of not having retrospective changes. However, more must be done to ensure that the community is engaged with the MOD’s reasoning, as that would encourage an improved relationship with parts of the Gurkha community.

I fear that the complexity of the pension issue is the greatest stumbling block we face, because whatever accommodation is reached is likely to cause further anomalies and exclude someone or some group. The situation with pre and post-1997 pensions is far from ideal, but we must ensure that any recommendations and changes do not make the situation worse. I await the final report with interest and hope that Ministers respond comprehensively in due course. I also hope the opinions of hon. Members that we have heard today are taken into account.

It is likely that we will be unable to deliver on every proposal or grievance that the inquiry hears, as doing so may incur an unsustainable financial cost. My hope is that the inquiry deals fairly with the long-standing Gurkha grievances. I hope it finds a way for more Gurkhas to remain in Nepal and to have a successful and fulfilled life there without feeling the financial pull of coming to the UK. I further hope that the bad feeling that has developed between the MOD and Gurkha representatives over many years can be cleared up, so that reasonable dialogue can take place in future.

We are entering a crucial time for the Gurkhas and their grievances. It is important that we openly engage in sensible and honest dialogue on solutions. We owe the Gurkhas a serious, independent and honest report. I have no doubt that my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock will deliver just that.