Sir Gerald Howath Wants Aldershot Twinned With Joanna Lumley
SIR Gerald Howath, a former defence minister and current Tory MP fo Aldershot, who said Enoch Powell’s 1968 ‘rivers of blood’ speech was spot on, has turned his eye to Joanna Lumley, the actress who campaigned for Gurkhas’ rights.
Lumley was part of a succesful camapaign calling for Gurkhas who retired before 1997 the right to settle in the UK.
Sir Gerald Howarth wonders:
“Many of my constituents feel extremely aggrieved that Joanna Lumley ran this campaign, this very emotional campaign. She has been nowhere near Aldershot since, as far as I am aware. The problem does not lie with the younger, recently retired veterans, who speak good English…
“The problem arises with the older former Gurkhas … generally unable to speak English, virtually no job prospects, unfamiliar with our customs and often with failing health, inevitably because they are elderly.”
Would it have been better had they been gunned down in their prime of life whilst fighting the Nazis and Japanese so as to save them getting ill and being a burden on the NHS? What utter swine being old.
“This has been a tragic consequence of Lumley’s campaign, which was based purely on emotion and not on the hard truths with which we politicians have to deal on a day-to-day basis. She and her campaign have done a major disservice to these elderly people and to the indigenous population, which has seen the character of Aldershot change massively.”
The Telegraph says that since 2009, “Gurkha welfare groups and the Home Office estimate that about 8,000 former soldiers and their families have moved to Britain, but many have struggled.”
Is Sir Gerald Howarth calling for Lumley to be responsible for every Nepalese soldier who opts to live in Britain? She’s 68, you know.
Posted: 15th, September 2014 | In: Politicians Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
