I note that today seven test cases by ex-Gurkhas alleging unfair treatment by the MOD began. This issue has cropped up in the news from time to time but is probably easily forgotten by most of the public.

Nepalese Gurkhas have been a part of the British Army for many years now but do not qualify for compensation or pension payments equal to those awarded to their British counterparts. Instead their pay and conditions are set by an agreement between India, Nepal and Britain dating back to 1947, the “Tri-Partite Agreement”.

According to the article on the Guardian linked to above, the cost of equalising conditions and service will be somewhere in the region of £2 billion. A lot of money, to be sure.

But is money really the issue here? The Gurkhas fought in the British Army during the Second World War, and many suffered alongside their British comrades in the Japanese POW camps. More recently they have served in the Gulf, Bosnia, Kosovo and East Timor. They form a part of our army and risk their lives for us.

It seems to me that the only honourable thing to do is to reward these men as we reward any other person who puts their life in danger in the service of our country. I feel ashamed that the Gurkhas are reduced to bringing their case under the European Convention on Human Rights – this should have been settled long since.

A memorandum by the Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen’s Organisation, submitted to the Armed Forces Pension Scheme Review and the Joint Compensation Review, can be found here. It outlines arguments to support the case that the Gurkhas put forward.