Support Gurkhas - petition and council motion

Last night we had a full council meeting.  This gives the opportunity for members of the public to present petitions and ask questions.  Councillors can also ask questions, debate and vote on reports and recommendations from committee and debate and pass motions on various subjects.

One of the motions passed last night, with unanimous support was as follows:



Moved by Cllr Chris Maskell

"This Council, which agreed in June 2008 to support the Reading-based British Gurkha Ex-Servicemen's Association's campaign for Gurkhas' rights and in particular the right to remain for servicemen discharged before 1 July 1997, and sought and obtained support for many other Councils for that position, regrets that Gurkha servicemen discharged before 1 July 1997 are still being discriminated against in terms of their pensions and that they, and their widows, are being denied parity with other British and Commonwealth ex-servicemen.

This Council therefore declares its support for the Gurkha's campaign for pension parity and urges the Mayor of Reading, the party leaders, and the Members of Parliament for Reading to sign the e-petition on the direct-gov website."

An amendment was put forward from the Greens, and accepted so, in addition to the above motion:

"This Council also instructs the Chief Executive to write to all other councils in the United Kingdom asking them to support the campaign for pension parity and asking them to invite the petition organisers to their area to conduct the petition."

Please sign the e-petition that can be found here and share it with your friends and family.