Gurkhas

Charity Robs Gurkhas Blind, Human Rights Lawyers Ditto [ 13 February 2010 ]  
QUOTE
Joanna's hollow victory: The heartbreaking reality behind Lumley's triumph for the Gurkhas.............. Thanks to Ms Lumley, soldiers like himself could at last settle in the faraway land for which they had fought in their youth..... Mr Gurung was excited. He envisaged a happy retirement in England, with free housing from a local council and a decent state pension............ He speaks no English, so his chances of work are next to nil. He can barely read or write in Nepalese. Yet he took out an unaffordable loan and sold everything (his family house, farmland, cows and goats) to raise the money to get here. Now deep in debt, he could not afford a flight home even if he wanted to.......... Meanwhile, in Nepal, his wife Laxmi, 56, son Sunil, 26, and daughter Phul, 16, face an equally uncertain future. They have no money to fly to Britain or to pay for the three UK visas they need to settle here.

But Mr Gurung is not alone. There are many other ex-Gurkhas like him, and yesterday the Army Benevolent Fund voiced grave concern over the old men. In a further conundrum, this investigation has discovered that the old soldiers' 'trades union', the Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen's Organization (GAESO) in Nepal, is charging each veteran £500 in cash for UK visa advice while weaving rosy tales about life here, which is ramping up the numbers setting off............

At GAESO's Nepal offices, solicitors from a top firm of London human rights lawyers, Howe & Co, also receive a legal aid fee of up to £500 from the British Government for each old soldier and each family member they help fill in a UK visa application. [ Beats honest work - Editor ] It is proving a gold mine for all concerned  -  apart from the Gurkhas themselves. For the old soldiers have been betrayed a second time......

Every Gurkha with four years' service can now move to the UK, where he is entitled to welfare benefits, including a local housing allowance (housing benefit) and a pension.
UNQUOTE
Cold as charity is an expression for a reason. Men who served are finding out the hard way. Howe & Co. are showing us the way to get rich by abusing the innocent. Blair's old woman got there before them and now we can see why.

 

10,000 City bankers hit £1m jackpot - Now 'grotesque' payouts are set to double  [ 13 February 2010 ] 
QUOTE
Up to 10,000 City bankers are in line for pay packages of more than £1million, thanks to super-size bonuses, experts said yesterday......... Detailed forecasts being used by major banks suggest that a quarter of their investment bankers will be rewarded with £1million average pay packages, senior City sources have told the Daily Mail...... After a bumper year, bank executives are determined to reward their top staff. Ironically, the market turbulence that has led to a surge in trading volumes in equities, bonds and currencies, was caused by the banking crisis in the first place.
UNQUOTE
The moral is that most of us went into the wrong jobs. Financial manipulation is gambling. It's great when it works but the rest of us get to pay. Of course Tax is worse. Brown steals 80% of our income. As The Express says Brutal Labour tax rises ‘are killing off recovery’. For the opposite end of the scale see what Joanna Lumley has done to the Gurkhas. If she had been honest and competent she would have talked to officers of her father's regiment and understood the problems she created.