The longest serving MP for Reading is pushing for pensions justice for Gurkha veterans who have served this country.
Gurkhas are elite soldiers from Nepal who started serving as mercenaries for the British East India Company in the 1800s, and were incorporated into the British Army after that, recently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Men who served as Gurkhas were allowed to settle in the UK with their families in 2004 and 2009, with many settling in Reading.
The 2009 decision allowed those who had four years of service the right to residence in a campaign famously championed by Joana Lumley
But Gurkhas have complained that those who retired before 1997 receive less in pensions than those who retire afterwards.
That’s because the earlier pensions were based on lower incomes and the cost of living in the Gurkha’s native land of Nepal.
Matt Rodda, the Labour MP for Reading Central, has pushed for pension justice in a meeting with Louise Sandher-Jones, the minister for veterans.
He said: “Gurkha veterans who retired before 1997 have lower pensions than other British soldiers.
“I believe we owe a debt of honour to our Gurkhas and I am campaigning for a fair deal for all Gurkha veterans.
“I am stepping up this campaign and it was important to raise this issue with Louise Sandher-Jones, the veterans’ minister.”
Mrs Sandher-Jones is also the Labour MP for North East Derbyshire.
She attended the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst and served in the war in Afghanistan, retiring from the army in 2020.
