Does Joanna Lumley struggle to get a GP appointment due to the absolute huge number of ELDERLY Gurkhas/Nepalese where she lives?

Whilst many YOUNG migrants may not need much health care the very elderly Gurkhas do need a lot of medical treatment and clog up the system.

Is it only people that are not affected by strain on public services that campaign for a free for all?

The Gurkhas have done a lot for this country, the occasional doctors appointment is the very least we can offer in return IMHO.

Free for all?

Good one.

is this some new flavour of bigotry?

my daughter lives in the area, they don`t have a problem where they`re stationed but then they don`t think of people as us and them either.

No, I think it's just the usual form.

An educational link for our underscored and recent OP: http://www.army.mod.uk/gurkhas/27784.aspx

Aldershot: the town turning away the Gurkhas:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...e-Gurkhas.html

Lumley's Legacy of Misery:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-terribly.html

Here is one or two points for starters.

1 Joanna Lumley was a figurehead for a small group of people who all had a vested interest in bringing in large numbers of Gurkhas. That doesn't excuse her behaviour but it might help to put it in context.
2. The whole country was fooled and manipulated into thinking that these Gurkhas dearest wish was to settle in a country that most of them had never visited. The reality is that the majority were pushed here by dependents who wanted to be economic migrants no different from anyone else.
3. Lumley and co were supported by a whole mass of the public who really didn't have a clue about Gurkhas apart from swallowing the myths, but were ready to claim that "It's not about dependents" or that "Gurkhas would be too proud to accept benefits"
4 People who really knew the situation AND had the Gurkhas welfare at heart, were simply shouted down by the mob.

Guess the haters don't take a break for Christmas.

I've just read the thread and can't see any hating?

http://www.gethampshire.co.uk/news/l...anding-9343915

Did you read the OP?

Nice of you to point out the MP for the area is not pro-Gurkha himself and is aware of the strain.

Yes i did.

Aldershot MP Gerald Howarth said:

Howarth said the problem was not with Gurkhas who had just left the army as they tended to be “young, fit and very fluent in English” as well as “very qualified” and able to find work.

Rather it came from the number of Nepalese coming to the UK who had left the British Army as long ago as the 1970s who were now elderly, in poor health and who did not speak English very well.

He said: “The problem arises because in 2009 the government decided, in the face of the pretty disgraceful campaign by Joanna Lumley, I don’t entirely blame her, but it was an entirely emotional campaign, which resulted in all those who had left the army before 1997 given the entitlement to come to the UK.”

He added: “They don’t understand our customs.”

Howarth said his constituents were “absolutely fed up” and some had told him they would leave Aldershot if the situation did not change. “If they say something they get accused of being racist, it’s their town,” he said.

“It’s not fair on them and it’s not fair on the elderly Gurkhas,” he added. “The people of Aldershot and Farnbourgh require a solution.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012...n_1381743.html

predictably selective.

who were you last time?

This^^ My Grandad always appreciated the Gurkhas he fought along side them. If they are good enough for him then they are good enough for me, and definitely entitled to be here in the UK using our services. Unlike some other people in our country.

I live in Folkestone and we have a largest Nepalese population down here. Generally I find them very friendly although they can be rather loud on the mobile on trains - not a crime I think.

Feel that as they were in the British Army they should have the same rights as anyone else in the army. Never actually noticed any at my local doctors surgery though.

Fair comment, but although there is a large Gurkha population in the Folkestone/Ashford/Maidstone areas, the demographics are a bit different from Aldershot and Reading.
In Kent, in the main, the elderly have been absorbed into already established households of relatives and are less of a strain of local facilities.
However, in Aldershot and Reading, many of the elderly Gurkhas have ended up there courtesy of the local 'Mr Fixit' Gurkha organisations and once here, left to their own devices which has inevitably put much strain on services and to a lesser extent in Reading.

Folk may not agree that Lumley was the dupe of others who stood to gain a great deal of money out of her success, but there is certainly an argument that this was the case;

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...o-1935887.html

http://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/u...urkha-veteran/

4 Gurkha families have bought houses in our road. Couldn't wish for better neighbours.

lots of ghurkas where my daughter is [reading], they`re well respected there too.

Situation in Reading is a lot different to the one in Aldershot and Farnborough.

Public services in Reading are not at breaking point like in Aldershot and Farnborough.

Reading and Aldershot are about 25 miles apart in different counties under totally different local authorities.

i stay in the area a lot, 25 miles is local.

I've lived in both towns, there is no issue.

Which years?

Not entirely sure of the veracity of this but many people have told me that Nepalese people in Aldershot openly defecate in the street/supermarket/buses etc.

I know it sounds absolutely ridiculous but it is true. No-one can truly believe it because it sounds so ridiculous but it is true.

Apparently is it quite common.

I work a fair bit in Aldershot, and reports of them crapping in the street is news to me.

The main problem is that a large number of them, mostly elderly, have moved into the town over a short period of time, with little infrastructure and supporting services in place for this influx.

I have no problem with them. They are extremely courteous and have impeccable manners.