The Gurkhas

The Gurkhas - you may have heard of them. You may even have heard of the Gurkha Justice Campaign.

If, like me, you heard today about the conditions being attached to the right to live in the UK of those who served in the UK's armed forces, your reaction may have been the same as mine - spluttering disbelief. A disbelief made worse by the comments of the Immigration Minister Phil Woolas:

With their dependents you could be looking at 100,000 people.

Ignorant oaf that he is. I agree completely with Dhan Gurung, the ex-Gurkha who said:

"If they want Gurkha soldiers, they should treat them equally."

Gordon Brown insists these rules are fair. That, surely is an indication of the galloping incompetence of his administration and the incredible contempt in which it holds anything and anyone not of them and in agreement with them.

I note with some horror that one of the conditions for settlement is serving 20 years - something which only officers will have done. Labour favours officers over ordinary soldiers and I'm not even surprised.

I can only wonder what flash of inspiration drove some true genius to suggest that this was an adequate or sensible way to treat anyone. I don't expect to be enlightened.