JOANNA LUMLEY - LUMLEY BACKS NEPALESE GURKHAS

LUMLEY BACKS NEPALESE GURKHAS

Actress JOANNA LUMLEY has pledged her support to hundreds of former Nepalese Gurkha soldiers as they began their legal fight over settlement rights on Tuesday (16Sep08).
The Indian-born British actress, whose father fought alongside the Gurkhas, in the British army, joined a protest outside London's High Court.
She knelt before two veteran Gurkhas in wheelchairs to wish them luck in the test case being brought by five Gurkhas and a widow who have been refused the right to stay in the U.K.
She says, "My father served alongside the Gurkhas for 30 years. I am a daughter of the regiment. He would be absolutely overwhelmed with shame and fury that we have behaved this way to the Gurkhas, our most loyal and constant friends.
"I am never ashamed to be British but I am ashamed of the behaviour of the British legal system towards these brave men. We have discriminated against them dreadfully. It is a stain on our relationship."