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Gurkhas

I say unreservedly that this is a fantastic day for hon. Members in all parts of the Chamber who have campaigned on this issue. I pay tribute to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee in particular, whose calm presence throughout has been welcomed in all parts of the House. One lesson for the Government may be that they have taken what was a good record on the Gurkhas—a record on which they should have been congratulated—and managed to throw it in the gutter in the course of their prevarication. We have had the invidious sight of the Minister for Borders and Immigration chasing around after Joanna Lumley—well, he can be forgiven for that; it was when he caught up with her that the damage was done; in future, perhaps he should chase after someone only if he has a good chat-up line. As for the Government, let me congratulate them on finally doing the right thing. This is a great day for the House. In the midst of all the sleaze inquiries and everything else, this is one moment when MPs here can hold their heads up and say, "This is what we should've been doing every day of the week."