My Lords, I wish to contribute on Amendment 49. In doing so, I declare my interest as Colonel Commandant of the Brigade of Gurkhas. I have had a long association with the brigade since, as an 18 year-old troop commander in the Queen’s Gurkha Engineers, I first visited Nepal in 1988. I have served with them ever since, in Bosnia, Kosovo and elsewhere, so I am delighted to now be the Colonel Commandant.
This is an interesting day. Yesterday marked the 207th anniversary of the death of Major-General Rollo Gillespie at the Battle of Kalunga, where a tiny Gurkha or Nepali force of some 600 held off for nearly a month a much better-equipped and larger British Army force. That honourable draw effectively started the relationship between the British Army and Nepal, when the Prime Minister at the time, Bhim Thapa, allowed the East India Army, as it was then, to start recruiting Gurkhas.
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This is an issue that I have been raising now for some months with the Secretary of State. I take this opportunity to thank both the Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, and indeed Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, for the manner in which they have engaged
with this. One of the challenges we face under the treaty of Dharan is that, while Gurkhas continue to serve in the British Army, they remain Nepali citizens. As non-UK personnel cannot be exempt from immigration control and have settled status, it is not possible for Gurkhas or any non-UK personnel to be granted indefinite leave to remain while they are still serving. The issue is not just the cost of applying for indefinite leave to remain but the fact that they cannot apply while they are still serving and that the time it takes to process an application creates a gap from the end of their service before they can start work with indefinite leave to remain.
So I am very pleased that the Secretary of State wrote to me back in March to say that the MoD had changed its policy and Gurkhas were now allowed to apply some 18 weeks before leaving service. That, however, does not address the issue of cost. However, from my continued conversations with the Secretary of State and in hosting the Home Secretary at Sandhurst back in September for the annual gathering of the clan of the Brigade of Gurkhas, I am convinced of their commitment to deal with this issue. As was mentioned by the noble Lord, this had gone to public consultation, which closed on 7 July, and I rather hope that, if not today then certainly before the end of the Bill’s process, my noble friend the Minister will be able to confirm the news that I am expecting—that there will be a happy solution to this problem.