A lot of people in the UK welcome them too. Aldershot, where I was born, is at the centre of this issue.

One of the problems is pension rights. The previous British government got this wrong in 2010 and now the present British government is getting it wrong too. Around 25,000 Gurkhas who retired before 1 July 1997 are not currently entitled to full British Army pensions, although veterans who retired after that date get equal rights with UK soldiers. It is possible that a lot of those who retired before 1 July 1997 would return to Nepal if they did get equal pension rights. Instead, some of them have taken up their settlement rights and claimed benefits in the UK in lieu of being paid a standard army pension and remaining in Nepal.

Defence minister Gerald Howarth would do well to choose his words more carefully.