Gurkha campaigner Joanna Lumley is Brits’ ideal mum

July 28th, 2009 KATHMANDU - British actress Joanna Lumley was hailed as 'Nepali cheli (daughter)' and felicitated for her remarkable contribution to the Gurkha cause and successful campaign to allow Gurkha soldiers and their families to settle in Britain. Hundreds of Gurkha veterans and their family members organized a civic reception at the Kathmandu City Hall in her honor and gave her a standing ovation as she started to address the cheering crowd.

July 28th, 2009 KATHMANDU - British actress Joanna Lumley, who is in Nepal on a five day visit after spearheading a high profile campaign to allow Gurkha soldiers and their families to settle in Britain, met President Rambaram Yadav, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala separately. Accompanying her to the meetings held at the Singh Durbar, the seat of the government, was a 30-member delegation, including Liberal Democratic Party leader Peter Carol, Folkestone town counselor Dhana Gurung, Maiti-Nepal president Anuradha Koirala and several foreign journalists.

July 26th, 2009 LONDON/KATHMANDU - British actress Joanna Lumley will get a heroine's welcome and reception when she lands in Nepal on Sunday afternoon, for spearheading a high profile campaign to allow Gurkha soldiers and their families to settle in Britain. The actress, who played a pivotal role in the campaign to allow those who fought to live in Britain, said before her departure Saturday night that she felt "humbled" to be travelling to Nepal.

July 13th, 2009 LONDON - Faced with immense pressure to trim the 34 billion pound budget, British Defence chiefs are planning to axe about 800 Gurkha warriors. According to the Daily Express, up to three infantry battalions could go despite calls for more men.

June 12th, 2009 LONDON - Widows' of dead Gurkha soldiers are all set to be welcomed into Britain on the orders of new Home Secretary Alan Johnson, The Sun can reveal. Johnson decided to overturn predecessor Jacqui Smith's decision after discovering that 95 widows - most in their 70s - were to be barred.

May 30th, 2009 LONDON - Actress Joanna Lumley had to beg British Prime Minister Gordon Brown over the issue of Gurkhas' settlement rights, she has revealed. In an interview with Jonathan Ross, the actress said she resorted to going on "the Lumley self-pleading offensive".

May 20th, 2009 LONDON - All retired Gurkha soldiers are to be given the right to live in Britain and Premier Gordon Brown could announce the historic breakthrough as early as tomorrow, reports The Sun. It marks a sensational victory for the campaign on behalf of the Gurkhas - led by TV star Joanna Lumley and backed by The Sun.

May 20th, 2009 LONDON - All Gurkha ex-soldiers who have served in the British Army are to be given the right to settle down in Britain with a formal statement expected Thursday, a newspaper reported. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has been severely embarrassed by Gurkha residency rights campaign led by screen actress Joanna Lumley, is expected to signal the new policy in the British parliament, the Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.

May 10th, 2009 LONDON - The Home Office has said it would not ask the family of any British Gurkha soldier killed in action to leave the United Kingdom, after reports appeared that widow of a hero Gurkha killed in Afghanistan was told she has no right to stay in Britain. Under the rules Parbati Pun and her two young children would have no automatic right to remain and would have to apply for new residency visas, but the Home Office said it would not ask the widow to leave.

May 10th, 2009 LONDON - Stung by attacks over its policies on Gurkha ex-soldiers, the British government has told the widow of a Gurkha soldier killed in Afghanistan last week that she can stay on in Britain. Normally, Parbati Pun - widow of Corporal Kumar Purja Pun of the Royal Gurkha Rifles - would have had to leave Britain along with her two young children or apply for new residency visas.

May 9th, 2009 LONDON - British Immigration Minister Phil Woolas has reassured Gurkha veterans that he will address their residency rights issue with sincerity and added that they may still be allowed to move to this country. Woolas was speaking on the BBC Radio Four Today programme alongside the actress and campaigner Joanna Lumley, a day after they clashed at an impromptu press conference in a Westminster television studio.

May 6th, 2009 LONDON - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown assured Wednesday he will come up with a new policy that will satisfy demands by Gurkha ex-soldiers to be given the right to live in Britain, a leading campaigner said. 'I feel absolutely confident he's going to do the right thing by the Gurkhas,' actress Joanna Lumley said after a meeting with the British leader Wednesday.

May 6th, 2009 LONDON - The Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles, has backed the campaign against the Government's treatment of the Gurkhas. According to The Telegraph, British actress Joanna Lumley, who is spearheading the campaign for better treatment of Gurkha soldiers, told MPs that she had received a private letter of support from a member of the Royal Family.

April 30th, 2009 LONDON - Gurkha ex-servicemen seeking to settle down in Britain after serving in the British Army Thursday celebrated the defeat of government attempts to curtail their residency rights. Some 27 rebel MPs from the ruling Labour party joined opposition ranks to vote for a motion calling upon the government to give all Gurkhas who have served in the British armed forces equal rights to settle in Britain.

April 24th, 2009 LONDON - Thousands of Gurkha soldiers who fought for Britain were told by the British government Friday they do not have an automatic right to settle down in the country. The British home ministry said some 10,000 Gurkha ex-soldiers and their families would be allowed in as a result of new regulations announced Friday, but campaigners for Gurkhas said the new rules would help fewer than 100 men.