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Opposition day on Wednesday, 29 April 2009, in the House of Commons, led by Chris Huhne. The answering member was Lord Beamish.

Gurkha Settlement Rights

Gurkha settlement rights. Tenth opposition day debate (part 1). Motion agreed on division (267 to 246).

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
491 c890-931 
Session
2008-09
Department
Ministry of Defence
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 491 c906 (Link to this contribution) Order. Mr. Speaker imposed a 10-minute limit on Back-Bench contributions. In view of the limited tim...
Keith Vaz | 491 c915 (Link to this contribution) The Minister says that there are more. Given that, he will excuse me for not taking at face value a ...
Show all contributions (125)
Keith Vaz | 491 c915 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard). ...
Lord Howard of Lympne | 491 c914-5 (Link to this contribution) I have only a few seconds left and I want to bring my remarks to a close. At the end of his judgmen...
Lord Beamish | 491 c914 (Link to this contribution) I accept the support that the right hon. and learned Gentleman gives Gurkhas, but, when he was Home ...
Lord Howard of Lympne | 491 c914 (Link to this contribution) The Under-Secretary's comments have nothing to do with the Gurkhas. I am talking about the position ...
Lord Howard of Lympne | 491 c914 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the Under-Secretary because I have a particular word to say shortly about one of ...
Lord Beamish | 491 c925-6 (Link to this contribution) I will come to that point in a moment. There are 26,000 Gurkha pensioners in Nepal. My right hon. F...
Lord Howard of Lympne | 491 c926 (Link to this contribution) On that point, will the Minister give way?
David Heath | 491 c931 (Link to this contribution) Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. This is an historic defeat for the Government. I...
Speaker | 491 c931 (Link to this contribution) I am sure the House will understand that as the matter was decided only a few seconds ago, it is unl...
Lord Beamish | 491 c926-7 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, but I cannot—I have only three minutes left. When I was in Nepal, I raised that point w...
Damian Green | 491 c931 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. In the wake of that devastating vote for the Government, ha...
Derek Twigg | 491 c920-1 (Link to this contribution) No, I am sorry. Time is nearly up. I say to the Government that obviously I have concerns about the...
Rob Wilson | 491 c921-2 (Link to this contribution) During my brief and much curtailed comments, I shall highlight several real-life cases in the knowle...
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton | 491 c924-5 (Link to this contribution) Given the inconsistent approach that the Government of Nepal have taken to the recruitment of Gurkha...
George Howarth | 491 c923 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Gentleman has misread the letter. What my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary...
Nick Harvey | 491 c922-3 (Link to this contribution) I will not; I will come to the right hon. Gentleman in a moment. A variety of Members who have Nepa...
Lord Beamish | 491 c924 (Link to this contribution) I thank right hon. and hon. Members for their contributions to today's debate. Unfortunately, while ...
Nick Harvey | 491 c923-4 (Link to this contribution) The rest of us have not had the advantage of seeing this letter, but the right hon. and learned Memb...
Iain Duncan Smith | 491 c918 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman give way?
George Howarth | 491 c915 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is ungenerously trying to make out that I have been naive. I was relying not on...
Keith Vaz | 491 c916-7 (Link to this contribution) I did mention the letter from the Home Secretary, but my right hon. Friend was talking to our right ...
Derek Twigg | 491 c920 (Link to this contribution) I am suggesting that, given the potential numbers of people who would come here, there would clearly...
Lord Howard of Lympne | 491 c920 (Link to this contribution) But are not the Government of Nepal the best people to judge that? Did not they give unchallenged ev...
Derek Twigg | 491 c919 (Link to this contribution) That is absolutely the advice that I received. I dealt with many cases in which the Ministry of Defe...
Phil Woolas | 491 c919 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for those comments from my hon. Friend, given all his experience. In his time as a Min...
Derek Twigg | 491 c918-9 (Link to this contribution) The Gurkhas are superb, as the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) s...
Lord Campbell of Pittenweem | 491 c918 (Link to this contribution) I am going to finish in a moment. My objection is to the fact that there is discrimination between ...
Chris Huhne | 491 c897 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. We have to consider the implications for the developing...
David Drew | 491 c897 (Link to this contribution) There is one issue that does not seem to get a mention at all: the impact on Nepal. We are talking a...
Chris Huhne | 491 c896-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point about immigration policy in its entirety. If he had come...
Gerald Howarth | 491 c896 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, because it is important that we try to...
Speaker | 491 c896 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman knows that interventions have to be brief, and there are many people waiti...
Bob Spink | 491 c896 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman allow me to intervene?
Chris Huhne | 491 c896 (Link to this contribution) I shall make a bit of progress, if I may. An indication of what the true situation would be if we ac...
Evan Harris | 491 c895 (Link to this contribution) May I ask my hon. Friend to remind the House that there is a fundamental moral argument here? Under ...
Chris Huhne | 491 c896 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point, as always.
Chris Huhne | 491 c895 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman makes a good and helpful point; I appreciate it, and indeed the work that h...
Dan Rogerson | 491 c899 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for setting out the Government's position up to now on a number of iss...
Phil Woolas | 491 c899 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for protecting me from my hon. Friend from the mouth of the Thames....
Phil Woolas | 491 c898 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from "House" to the end of the Question and add:""recognise...
Bob Spink | 491 c898-9 (Link to this contribution) The whole House agrees with the hon. Gentleman about the contribution that the Gurkhas have made, an...
Andrew Mackinlay | 491 c899 (Link to this contribution) They are going to win anyway, so just get on with it.
Speaker | 491 c899 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman is an experienced Member of Parliament, and he knows how to conduct himsel...
Lord Howard of Lympne | 491 c897 (Link to this contribution) Is not it the case that it was made clear to Mr. Justice Blake that the Nepalese Government have no ...
Chris Huhne | 491 c897 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. and learned Gentleman for that question, and I am particularly grate...
Chris Huhne | 491 c897-8 (Link to this contribution) Let me conclude, as I have given way enough. As Sir Ralph Turner MC, who fought with the Gurkhas in...
Speaker | 491 c898 (Link to this contribution) I inform hon. Members that Mr. Speaker has selected the amendment in the name of the Prime Minister....
Phil Woolas | 491 c902 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that, in particular for his kind remarks, which have been much m...
Phil Woolas | 491 c899-900 (Link to this contribution) That is an entirely fair and helpful point. At least the hon. Gentleman's party has been consistent ...
William Cash | 491 c901 (Link to this contribution) To go on about the judgment of the Court is to miss the point completely. The judicial review is its...
Phil Woolas | 491 c901 (Link to this contribution) I understand the hon. Gentleman's point. There are some in the House who have campaigned consistentl...
Bob Russell | 491 c900 (Link to this contribution) Can the Minister confirm without any shadow of doubt that the decision made in 2004 to allow Gurkhas...
Phil Woolas | 491 c900-1 (Link to this contribution) I understand that point. The decision was retrospective to 1 July 1997. Those who have been granted ...
Phil Woolas | 491 c902 (Link to this contribution) I shall move on to the crux of what the hon. Member for Eastleigh said. He spoke about the judicial ...
Graham Stringer | 491 c902 (Link to this contribution) The Government's record on the Gurkhas is better than that of any previous Government. My hon. Frien...
Damian Green | 491 c901 (Link to this contribution) The Minister appears to be a little confused. He seems to say that our amendment differs in respect ...
Phil Woolas | 491 c902 (Link to this contribution) What I see in the motion from the Liberal Democrats is consistency and naiveté. What I see in the am...
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton | 491 c902-3 (Link to this contribution) I remind the House that I have an interest as a former officer in the Brigade of Gurkhas. My concern...
Phil Woolas | 491 c903 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman, who speaks with great knowledge, is concerned that the decisions do not have the...
George Howarth | 491 c903 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased that my hon. Friend has outlined the Government's very good record so far in dealing wi...
Phil Woolas | 491 c903-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that comment; he brings us to the crux of the debate. For ...
Phil Woolas | 491 c904 (Link to this contribution) Just let me finish, then I will take an intervention. I am confident that my right hon. Friend will ...
Phil Woolas | 491 c904 (Link to this contribution) I can do that, with the caveat that I do not know how many applications will be made in that period....
Phil Woolas | 491 c904 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman and then I will make the final points in my argument so that w...
Hugh Bayley | 491 c892 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making a powerful case, but the motion says that""people who are prepared to f...
Chris Huhne | 491 c892 (Link to this contribution) I was grateful to the hon. Gentleman for signing the early-day motion earlier this year that called ...
Chris Huhne | 491 c890-1 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House regrets the Government's recent statement outlining the eligibility c...
Lord Redwood | 491 c891 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, and thank him for the case that he is making. We want justice f...
Chris Huhne | 491 c891 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for making that clear and obvious point. I entirely agree ...
Chris Huhne | 491 c893 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point and for reminding us of the other terms o...
Bob Spink | 491 c893 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Chris Huhne | 491 c893 (Link to this contribution) The Minister makes a nitpicking point about a handful of people, but the key issue that he needs to ...
Parmjit Dhanda | 491 c892 (Link to this contribution) On a point of clarification: my grandfather, in his beard and turban, fought in the Indian army's Be...
Lord Beamish | 491 c892-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is talking complete nonsense. There are people who fought for Britain in the seco...
Chris Huhne | 491 c892 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not saying that. Although I believe that we ought to give serious consideration to extendin...
Parmjit Dhanda | 491 c892 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way again, and assure him that I am not asking awkwar...
Chris Huhne | 491 c892 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for making the point that some traditions in the armed services ...
Chris Huhne | 491 c895 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for pointing that out, but I have to say that the original figure give...
Chris Huhne | 491 c895 (Link to this contribution) Before I give way to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, from whom I very much want to hear ...
Keith Vaz | 491 c895 (Link to this contribution) May I caution the hon. Gentleman not to accept figures put out by the Ministry of Defence on the sub...
David Heath | 491 c894 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way, and he is making a very powerful case. Does not...
Chris Huhne | 491 c893-4 (Link to this contribution) No, as I want to make some progress. Last week's Government response was to announce new criteria f...
Andrew Mackinlay | 491 c894 (Link to this contribution) I rejoice that in my constituency I have more than 400 Gurkha families. They enrich the borough educ...
Chris Huhne | 491 c894 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes the point that all reasonable people make when they consider the issue, includi...
Lord Beamish | 491 c895 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, but the hon. Gentleman is still showing his ignorance of the entire subject. The 26,000 ...
Chris Huhne | 491 c894-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman puts his point with a passion and directness that I can only admire. On 27 April,...
Phil Woolas | 491 c906 (Link to this contribution) I am being pressed to take interventions, but there are a number of speakers, the Liberal Democrats ...
Phil Woolas | 491 c905 (Link to this contribution) Yes. Let me explain where the 20 years comes from. I think that when people hear the argument, if th...
Nia Griffith | 491 c905 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Government's commitment in the amendment to review the impact of new guidance within 1...
Phil Woolas | 491 c906 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend's point is extremely important, and I, as a Labour party member, think that we should...
David Drew | 491 c905 (Link to this contribution) I should be interested to know what the Governments of Nepal and India have said about the whole deb...
Chris Huhne | 491 c904 (Link to this contribution) I am particularly interested in being a spectator at what appears to be an internal group meeting of...
Phil Woolas | 491 c905 (Link to this contribution) Once again, the hon. Gentleman caricatures what I said. I have always been clear that the 100 per ce...
Speaker | 491 c905 (Link to this contribution) Order. I must bring the hon. Gentleman to order. I understand the importance of this debate, but man...
Damian Green | 491 c908-9 (Link to this contribution) I have great admiration and liking for the hon. Gentleman, but that intervention was nonsensical and...
Chris Mullin | 491 c908 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman understand that it sticks in the gullet slightly to find that a representati...
Damian Green | 491 c908 (Link to this contribution) It was not Stephen Lawrence's killer—the right hon. Gentleman is, as so often, right.
Keith Vaz | 491 c908 (Link to this contribution) This is just a point of clarification; I am sure that the hon. Gentleman would want to clear it up n...
Damian Green | 491 c908 (Link to this contribution) In a second. The net result of this succession of failures is that the Minister has to find new way...
Keith Vaz | 491 c908 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Damian Green | 491 c907-8 (Link to this contribution) That is a faintly ridiculous point. Clearly, the future of the Brigade of Gurkhas is extremely impor...
David Cairns | 491 c907 (Link to this contribution) We all honour the past service of the Gurkhas, and I have a great deal of sympathy with the cause th...
Damian Green | 491 c906-7 (Link to this contribution) I shall seek to be briefer than the previous two speakers, in recognition of how many Back Benchers ...
Speaker | 491 c911 (Link to this contribution) Order. May I remind the House that there is now a six-minute limit on all Back-Bench speeches?
Lord Howard of Lympne | 491 c913 (Link to this contribution) The 2nd Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles is based at Shorncliffe, in my constituency. In a bitter i...
George Howarth | 491 c911-3 (Link to this contribution) I come to this issue as somebody who was a child in the period following the second world war. Prett...
Damian Green | 491 c909 (Link to this contribution) Can I finish my sentence first? [Interruption.] If the hon. Lady can contain herself, I was referrin...
Baroness Brown of Silvertown | 491 c909 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for being so gracious. Under the new Conservative policy, will a...
Damian Green | 491 c909 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Lady wishes to speak.
George Howarth | 491 c922 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Paul Robert Holmes | 491 c893 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has referred to Mr. Justice Blake, who made exactly that point in his judgment. He sa...
Damian Green | 491 c909-11 (Link to this contribution) As I said, as the hon. Lady would have heard had she been listening, there would be a presumption in...
Lord Howard of Lympne | 491 c913 (Link to this contribution) I would do exactly what my hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Damian Green) outlined. [Interruption...
Lord Campbell of Pittenweem | 491 c917-8 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to follow the right hon. Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz), particularly as he h...
Nick Harvey | 491 c922 (Link to this contribution) We have had a good and lively debate this afternoon. My hon. Friend the Member for Eastleigh (Chris ...
George Howarth | 491 c904 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that and we have made still further progress. I accept that he c...
Subjects
Armed forces Immigration Gurkhas
Link
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