Lumley 'assured' by Brown of Gurkhas solution

Campaigning actress Joanna Lumley said yesterday British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had promised a solution by the end of May to a dispute over the right of Nepalese Gurkha soldiers to settle in Britain.

However, the Prime Minister's spokesman said after a 30-minute meeting between Mr Brown and Ms Lumley that Mr Brown had pledged to come up with new reform proposals by July.

"The meeting was extremely positive. He is wholly supportive of the Gurkha cause. He is going to come up with a new solution by the end of this month, that's May," Ms Lumley told reporters.

"I trust him. I rely on him. And I know that he has now taken this matter into his own hands and so today is a very good day," Ms Lumley said, adding that she had very high expectations of Mr Brown.

Ms Lumley, who did not reveal details of the private discussion, characterised the meeting as "extremely positive".

"He has given me an assurance, but not a detailed assurance on what it will be. So, the nature of the solution is yet to be worked out," she said.

Mr Brown's spokesman said the Prime Minister had promised to consider Ms Lumley's proposals.

"We have brought forward the date for determining outstanding applications (from Gurkhas to live in Britain) to the end of May, and based on this work the government will then come forward with proposals for the next stage of our reform of the rules."

The spokesman said he would expect the next stage of proposals "to be published by the summer recess".

Parliament breaks up for the summer on July 21.

The actress, whose father served with Gurkha soldiers, has long campaigned for all Gurkhas and their families to be given the right to settle in the UK.

Mr Brown suffered his first parliamentary defeat last week on the issue, when lawmakers voted to overturn new rules that restrict the number of former Nepalese Gurkha soldiers who can settle in Britain.

Although the vote was not legally binding, the defeat was a blow for Mr Brown, who trails the opposition Conservatives before an election due by June 2010.

With a working majority of 63, Labour has lost only a handful of votes in the lower house since taking power in 1997.

Mr Brown has said that allowing all Gurkha veterans to resettle in Britain would cost £1.4 billion and strain the already stretched public finances.

The settlement issue for the soldiers, who have fought for Britain since 1815 and still go into battle with traditional curved Kukri knives, has been raging for years.

The Gurkhas say that if they were good enough to fight for Britain, they are good enough to be allowed to stay.

The government, however, fears some 100,000 former soldiers and their families would apply to settle in Britain if they removed all restrictions.