Downing Street Says

Asked what the state of play was in regards to Gurkhas residing in the UK, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Home Office had a legal obligation to write to the five individuals who were involved in the judicial review cases, to explain to them how they would have been assessed under the old criteria. The Home Office were also making clear that the criteria would change and therefore any decisions reached under the old criteria would not be implemented.

The letters made clear that the criteria would be subject to review and therefore their cases would be reconsidered. Asked if those five Gurkhas would need to reapply, the PMS replied that he was not sure what the exact formal procedures would be, but this was nothing more than a consequence of the previous court decision.

Asked if any steps were taken yesterday to warn the campaign that these letters were coming, the PMS said that in relation to how these five individual cases had been dealt with and the letters that had been sent, people should speak to the Home Office. Asked if the Prime Minister had mentioned the letters to Joanna Lumley yesterday, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was clear that we were reviewing the criteria; we had set the latest possible date for that review to be completed and if we could complete it before that date then all for the good. The letters that had gone out were nothing more than technical implementation of the court case held two weeks ago, which would hold no practical impact.

Asked if Joanna Lumley had been aware of this possibility, the PMS advised people to wait until the press conference. People were well aware that we were looking at 1500 cases, we were looking to change the criteria and we had to do this in a proper, thorough way. Asked if the Prime Minister thought that Joanna Lumley was being disingenuous, the PMS advised people to wait for the press conference. Asked if the Prime Minister thought that the statement given by the Gurkha Campaign Group had been disingenuous, the PMS said that he didn’t want to comment on statements made by the campaign group; the PMS said that he was here to set out the Government’s position.

Asked to confirm which criteria were being referred to, the PMS confirmed that the criteria in question were the ones set out by Phil Woolas two weeks ago, which would be reviewed. The Home Office for legal reasons had the obligation to write to the individuals concerned to let them know that under the criteria presented 10 days ago this would have been the outcome. The Home Office were also making clear that those criteria were subject to review and therefore cases would be reconsidered, in light of any new criteria.

Asked if the Prime Minister was aware that these letters were being sent out when he met with Joanna Lumley, the PMS replied that he would not get into internal Government procedures. Asked if there had been any attempt by the Government to contact Joanna Lumley today, the PMS said that there had been contact between the Government and the campaign in order to explain the situation to them.

Asked what he would say to people who suggested that the handling of today’s events had not been exemplary, the PMS replied that what we were focussed on was making the right decisions for the Gurkhas, who had served this country with great distinction over many years. We had done a lot to further the cause of the Gurkhas and we had done a lot to provide support for them. We were also committed to doing more and that was the most important thing.

Asked whether Home Office Ministers knew about the letters, the PMS said that people should speak to the Home Office about that. Asked if there was anything that could have been done to stop the letters going out, the PMS said that it was his understanding that there was an obligation on the Home Office to write to the individuals concerned and explain to them how they would be assessed under the criteria that currently existed.

Asked what the point was of reviewing the other 1500 cases when the rules would be reviewed anyway, the PMS replied that we needed to look at the outstanding cases as a matter of urgency. We also needed to look at any issues that arose from those cases, as this would inform exactly how we reviewed the criteria going forward. Asked if that suggested that the other 1500 cases would be rejected as well, the PMS said that this did not suggest that for one minute. The PMS said that it was his understanding that the Home Office were writing to many other Gurkhas to inform them that they had been allowed into the UK under the criteria that currently existed.

Asked if any Gurkhas receiving similar letters between now and the end of May saying that their application had been rejected could ignore those letters, the PMS said that he did not want to start commenting on individual cases. There were specific circumstances around these particular individuals, because they were subject to the judicial review procedure. Asked if those people who had successfully applied could still stay in the UK in light of any new criteria, the PMS said that we had made it clear that we wanted to do more to help and support the Gurkhas. On the exact legal position for every individual, people should talk to the Home Office.

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» Thursday, May 7, 2009

Gurkhas

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