Local Gurkha Campaigner Furious Over Government Minister’s Joanna Lumley ‘Smear’

A local campaigner for fair treatment for veteran Gurkha soldiers has hit out what he called a Government minister's 'dirty tricks', when actress and campaigner Joanna Lumley was 'smeared' by junior Defence Minister Kevan Jones.

Gary Dancer was compelled to speak out after Miss Lumley was criticised during a Home Affairs Committee meeting in Westminster.

Gordon Brown was forced into an embarrassing apology over the incident, after the hapless minister attacked Miss Lumley for maintaining a 'deathly silence' on Gurkhas's welfare after she won her campaign against the Government last year.

Last year Miss Lumley spearheaded a campaign for a change in the law to allow Gurkhas who had served the country to have the right to live here. With the country united behind her, and both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats supporting the campaign, the Government was forced into an embarrassing u-turn.

Downing Street is reported to have begged Miss Lumley eight times to call off a press conference at which she accused the Government of smearing her, and now both the junior minister involved, and the Prime Minister, have apologised to her.

Local man and former soldier Gary Dancer, who will be standing for the Borough Council on 6 May in Slough ward, is himself a longstanding campaigner for a fair deal for Gurkha veterans. Alongside Mr Om Gurung (a retired Gurkha soldier who now runs the Crossed Khukris restaurant in Nuneaton) and Conservative Parliamentary Candidate Dan Byles (also a former soldier), Mr Dancer played a key role in the Gurkha  campaign and took a petition with thousands of signatures to 10 Downing Street.

Mr Dancer said:

"Joanna Lumley has been a tireless campaigner for the rights of retired Gurkhas to be treated fairly by the country they have served loyally and bravely for many years.

"I was honoured to have played a part in the campaign for a fair deal for our Gurkhas veterans, and was delighted when the Government caved in last year and agreed to change the law.

"But it seems that this Government doesn't like to lose an argument, and typically we now see a Labour defence minister resorting to smearing his opponents rather than accept that he lost the argument. It is straight from the 'Damian McBride' book of dirty tricks.

"Frankly it is a pretty shabby way to behave."

The local Conservative Parliamentary Candidate Dan Byles, who was once the youngest serving major in the British Army and served alongside Gurkhas on operations, added:

"If anyone has earned the right to remain in our country, it is these brave soldiers. I've served alongside Gurkhas at various times in my career, and there are no more loyal, hard working and cheerful soldiers in the British Army. They have been badly let down by a Government that has no understanding of the Armed Forces.

"Sadly, our local Labour MP consistently refused to support local Gurkhas - even voting in Parliament against giving them the right to settle in the UK.

"One of the reasons I left the Army to enter politics in the first place is because I became disillusioned with the Government's treatment of British soldiers. The country desperately needs a change."