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| Britain | |
| Gurkhas being sacked to deprive them of their full pension | |
| 2007-12-17 | |
The policy was introduced after the government was forced to increase the Gurkhas' pay and pensions to bring them on par with the rest of the army. An official briefing document on the new pension scheme shows that 80 per cent to 85 per cent of Gurkhas will be discharged early, so missing the better payments, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday. They will lose out not only on the immediate pension they would get after 18 years service but also on a lump sum departure payment of the equivalent of three years' pension. Gurkhas have been put on the new army pension scheme, which applies to all other soldiers, after years of campaigning by their supporters. The full pension will be worth around 6,500 pounds a year for a rifleman, the basic Gurkha rank - plus the one-off departure payment. | |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #10 A kukri whistling past your ear will cure you of messing with the Gurkhas. Ayo Gurkhali! |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-12-17 14:36 |
| #9 This kind of thing happens a lot in corporate America. Old guys get the boot when there is a layoff to make way for college kids who don't earn as much money. A lot of loyalty and experience is lost but that's just the cost of doing business when all the bean counters and executives can see is the next quarterly report. It's kind of a shock that the British government would resort to the same kind of short sighted and dishonorable behavior. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2007-12-17 14:28 |
| #8 A Conservative government would have done exactly this same thing. The whole of the British government is run as a ponzi scheme. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-12-17 10:21 |
| #7 Per capita income in Nepal is $1400 (about 600 pounds). It's the decision to put them on UK pension scales that was nuts. Next step is they will phase out the Gurkha regiment(s) entirely. First. Why should be a Gurkha forced to retire to Nepal?? Why shouldn't he be tempted to remain in, UK? Second: In any civilain job you arfe paid according to your productivity not according to how much people are paid in their country of origin. Third: What's nuts is allowing all kinds of peole like Abu Hamza to suck on teh British tax payers and get serveral times more for doing nothing excapet call for the killing of British than a Gurkha for serving. Expel the Abu Hamzas and you will have enough money to hire the entire male population of the region where Gurkhas come from. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-12-17 08:31 |
| #6 Did you know that in the American armed services there is a 18 year lock in rule made by law. If you reach 18 years you're tenured till retirement eligibility at 20 years. Our Congress passed that law because our own military bean counters did the same thing you see here. So the Army sets up the promotion boards for Lieutenant Colonel so that officers in the rank of major/04 get a second pass over and released from the service [fired] just before they reach that 18 year mark. Since by law, there is a limit on the number of officers on active duty, you can't just keep them around. However, the system doesn't also have to drag their service out till the last moment delaying the reentry into the civilian workforce to compete against others in his age group [late 30s] who have years of specific experience ahead of them. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-12-17 06:37 |
| #5 Just to put in even MORE perspective of how stupid this is, they just got a review done this year that allowed the Gurkhas to get the same pension amount as a British soldier, before they were getting approximately 130-180 British pounds before whereas an British infantryman would have gotten about 600 pounds a month. The original decision to move them to the same pension plan as the rest of the Armed Forces was made around May/June from what i remember and its pure hypocrisy now they want to cut soldiers out before they can even receive their pensions. |
| Posted by: Valentine 2007-12-17 03:39 |
| #4 So why should anyone be a member of the British Armed Forces after they exhibit this kind of behavior? This is as low as it gets. And they'll have plenty of pi$$ed-off Gurkhas to worry about as a pleasant side-effect. Gurkhas with long memories and longer reaches under the right circumstances. You're next . . . . |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-12-17 03:05 |
| #3 It is sad to watch England and the rest of the British Isles commit suicide like this. There has to be more to it than just Leftism. To sink so far so fast. I fear we're well down the same path. |
| Posted by: Andy Elmeath5872 2007-12-17 02:59 |
| #2 The Hindu and Buddist religion of the Gurkha is obviously not compatible with Englandislam. The Poms no longer deserve them! Bring them all to Fort Bragg. Room will be made for them there, along with a nice pension as well. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-12-17 01:12 |
| #1 Per capita income in Nepal is $1400 (about 600 pounds). It's the decision to put them on UK pension scales that was nuts. Next step is they will phase out the Gurkha regiment(s) entirely. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2007-12-17 00:25 |