Marcus: About time.

an opposing wiew: naah mate I have to say I disagree with this one, not because of teh rightness and wrongness of the issue, but because of what the army will do. I have it on good authority that if they got all the rights of a british squaddie (pay, citizenship and so on) then the army would simply disband the gurkhas. it was going to happen if they managed to get the same pay (the army won that one) but getting citizenship rights is a step towards it. I kid you not guys, 'that would be wrong too' you cry. well it would but it still leaves them in the cold.

Tim: sorry that was MY opposing view. and the odd typo...

Marcus: Why would the army disband the Gurkhas if they were given the same pay etc? That's completely and utterly 1) wrong and 2) retarded. If they serve with the British Army they should be given British Army pay and conditions. If the British Army can't handle that, then frankly I am ashamed to be British.

Tim: mate, as I said its not about who's right or wrong, or who has the moral high ground. In a moral world they would not be there either because there would be no need for armies and fighting. also the fact is that the army is being shrunk, and the two main driving forces are money (mostly from governmental cuts) and the EU who call alot of the shots. the army employed the gurkhas not only because they kicked ass but because they were cheap as chips. If they cost more, then they have more resons to be disbanded. also they only recruit nepalese, which the EU will probably say is discriminatory, as we now recruit from all the commonwealth countries (nepal incuded) we can still recruit them but not now for a nepalese-only regiment. it might be wrong and immoral, but its realpolitik mate...

Tim: so the gurkhas might stil be there, but they won't all be nepalese. My source reckons they will be phased out by about ten years time. there'll be a fight to save them which will delay things, but it will happen. So, morality aside, they could have had less rights and pay, and their own respected regiment, or equal rights and pay and lose their reputation and uniqueness.

Marcus: It still comes down to penny-pinching. The Government spent billions on Iraq for no adequately explored reason, so I'm sure they can throw a few more quid towards a bunch of heroic, life-laying-down foreigners who sign up to protect the Crown.

tim: blame the government then, though they never were going to act morally whoever was in power, the fact is that by demanding those rights, they have in a way sealed their fate. they must have seen that coming man, they couldn't be that idealistic.