Gurkhas win right to stay in UK

This is great news for common sense. I have the utmost respect for the Gurkha regiment and the brave soldiers that serve in it.

I remember seeing a documentary on TV when I was a kid that was focused on the Gurkha regiment and its history. I remember being moved at how these young men from across the world would (Gurkha, also spelled as "Gorkha" are people from Nepal, who take their name from the eighth century warrior-saint "Guru Gorakhnath" fight (literally) for the right to serve in the British army. I can't think that young men and women here would put themselves through the very rigorous selection process. Not only do they fight bravely but the Gurkhas are always right up there on the front line. Fighting for a country that they have probably never seen in the flesh.

I feel ashamed that these brave old solderers have had to fight us to gain the right to live here if they so wish. Surely this should be the absolute least that we can do for them. I Wonder if the fight for equal pension payments will have the same happy outcome, lets hope so.



A group of retired Gurkhas fighting for the right to settle in Britain have won their immigration test case at London's High Court.

They were challenging immigration rules which said that those who retired from the British Army before 1997 did not have an automatic right to stay.

Prominent supporter actress Joanna Lumley said it was a "chance to right a great wrong".

The government said it would now review all Gurkhas' cases.

'Debt of honour'

The regiment moved its main base from Hong Kong to the UK in 1997 and the government had argued that Gurkhas discharged before that date were unlikely to have strong residential ties with the UK.

That meant those who wanted to settle in the UK had to apply for British residence and could be refused and deported.

The judgement could affect some 2,000 former Gurkhas who retired before 1997.

The judge, Mr Justice Blake, said the Gurkhas' long service, conspicuous acts of bravery and loyalty to the Crown all pointed to a "moral debt of honour" and gratitude felt by British people.

He ruled that instructions given by the Home Office to immigration officials were unlawful and needed urgent revision.

Lawyer Martin Howe said: "Today we have seen a tremendous and historic victory for the gallant Gurkha veterans of Nepal.

"This is a victory that restores honour and dignity to deserving soldiers who faithfully served in Her Majesty's armed forces.

"It is a victory for common sense; a victory for fairness; and a victory for the British sense of what is right."

Gurkhas win right to stay in UK

The five ex-Gurkhas involved in the test case were L/Cpl Gyanendra Rai, Deo Prakash Limbu, Cpl Chakra Limbu, L/Cpl Birendra Shrestha and Bhim Gurung. Gita Mukhiya also took part on behalf her deceased husband.

Gurkhas have been part of the British Army for almost 200 years and are hand picked from a fiercely contested recruitment contest in Nepal to win the right to join.

They have seen combat all over the world, with 200,000 fighting in the two world wars.

'Wonderful vindication'

Lumley, whose father served with the Gurkhas, was one of those leading the campaign.


Victoria Cross winners Lachhiman Gurungi and Tul Bahadour Pun


How the Gurkhas are celebrating

Outside court, she said: "This day is more important than I can tell you because it gives our country the chance to right a great wrong and to wipe out a national shame that has stained us all."

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said it was a "wonderful vindication" for those who had campaigned for a change in the law.

"I've always felt that if someone is prepared to die for this country, then they should have the right to live in this country," he said.

"The key thing now is to look at the ruling in detail and to make sure that the government now translates that into action and doesn't try and squirm out of it."

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said in a statement that the Home Office would revise its guidance surrounding the 1997 cut-off date.

"I have always been clear that where there is a compelling case, soldiers and their families should be considered for settlement," she said.

"We will honour our commitment to the Gurkhas by reviewing all cases by the end of the year."

An Oirish Story.

An Irishman goes to the Doctor with botty problems....

'Dactor, it's me ahrse. I'd loik ya ta teyhk a look, if ya woot'.
So the doctor gets him to drop his pants and takes a look.
'Incredible'he says, 'there is a £20 note lodged up here.'
Tentatively he eases the twenty out of the man's bottom, and then a £10
pound note appears.
'This is amazing!'exclaims the Doctor. ''What do you want me to do?'
'Well fur gadness sake teyhk it out, man! 'shrieks the patient.
The doctor pulls out the tenner and another twenty appears, and another and
another and another, etc.....
Finally the last note comes out and no more appear.
'Ah Dactor, tank ya koindly, dat's moch batter. Just out of interest, how
moch was in dare den?'
The Doctor counts the pile of cash and says '£1,990 exactly.'
'Ah, dat'd be roit,'' says the Irishman
(Wait for it...........scroll down.)









'I knew I wasn't feeling two grand..'

Is this really racism?

English family attacked by stones

The family were on a caravan holiday in the area.
A family cut short their holiday in Gwynedd after being attacked by a rock-throwing youth, a court has been told.
Dolgellau Youth Court heard the 16-year-old also abused the family from Bolton because they were English.
The youth admitted racially aggravated threatening behaviour at Blaenau Ffestiniog.
He also admitted common assault and disorderly conduct in an incident in Barmouth. He was warned he faced jail. The case was adjourned until 6 October.
The court heard the family missed their trip back to Porthmadog on the Ffestiniog Railway, on 28 August ,because they had accompanied the mother to Ysbyty Gwynedd hospital in Bangor, where she was treated for an arm injury.
'Shocked and upset'
Ian Evans, prosecuting, said the family had cut short their holiday in the area following the attack.
They were shocked and upset by what had happened, he added.
Mr Evans said some of the rocks thrown had landed on passing and parked cars.
The youth was alleged to have shouted racist abuse at the family because they were from England.
The father, a 32-year-old plumber, telephoned the police and then tried to take a photograph of the youth near Blaenau Ffestiniog train station.
'Hoody'
The witness gave the police a description of the youth, and said he could not take a proper photograph of him because he had pulled his hood over his head.
The court heard the youth had a list of previous convictions and had been on supervision since 2005.
In a separate incident outside a nightclub in Barmouth on 31 August the youth hit out at his ex-girlfriend after being refused admission.
He pleaded guilty to racially aggravated threatening behaviour at Blaenau Ffestiniog and common assault and disorderly conduct in Barmouth.
John Parsons, defending, said magistrates probably wanted pre-sentence reports.
"I have told my client the difficulties he finds himself in," said Mr Parsons.
Court chairman Gwilym Evans said the magistrates felt the custody threshold had been passed.
Sentence was adjourned until 6 October for reports to be prepared.
The youth was granted unconditional bail.

Comedian Ricky Gervais on 8 Things That Annoy Him

I have just stolen this directly from MSN news. It made me laugh I hope it does the same for you.


Eight things that annoy the British comedian.

Winston Churchill once said, "If you find a job you like, you'll never work again." I realized from an early age that there is no point in living for a holiday or living for a weekend. But as I get older, I'm realizing that all my comedy—all the things I've ever done—is about getting stuff off my chest. In my new film, "Ghost Town," I play a misanthropic guy who hates the world.
He closed his heart years ago and nothing gets through. He likes being a dentist because he can shove things in people's mouths and they can't talk to him. But then dead people start to bother him, and that's even worse. I think I'm slowly turning into that guy. It's gotten to where the slightest thing can ruin my day. For instance:

Unnecessary noise. Let's say there's a construction worker sanding down a door. OK, that's a bit annoying, but fair enough, it's his job. But why does he then add whistling to that? Don't add whistling. It doesn't cancel it out. It's not like mixing an alkaline with an acid. It makes it twice as annoying. Sanding the door—you need to do that. An ambulance siren—you need that. But whistling? It's not like you're whistling Brahms. It's like a cat walking on a piano.

Gossip magazines. The worst is the "spotted" section. "Spotted! Johnny Depp on the set of his new movie." Brilliant. What a surprise, him being there. "You'll never guess what I read: someone spotted Johnny Depp!" "Oh, yeah? Where?" "Miles away, different country, doesn't matter."

Lateness. Drives me mad. Can't stand it. Because I'm always 20 minutes early. So if you're 10 minutes late, well, in my mind, that's half an hour late. Also, I don't want to be alone, so if I'm meeting a friend at the pub, I won't go inside. I'll walk round and round the block because I don't want to be seen sitting there by myself. And besides, how could anyone not want to rush to meet me? I'm famous—I should be the one who turns up late.

People who use the line"I say what I think." No, you're rude, and you're just trying to make it a virtue. People are always going on about how "I'm not two-faced." No, but you are a nasty, fascist, racist piece of dirt. That outweighs two-faced. Next time, be two-faced.

People who think they're "eccentric." What does that mean? You wear lots of different hats? You ride a funny-colored bike? That makes you eccentric? A friend of mine moved out to the country, and the woman next door came round; she was sort of hippie-ish, very long hair, back to nature, all that stuff. And she says, "I've made you a rice pudding, and I've made it with breast milk, because, you know, waste not, want not!" So my friend took it, threw it away, washed the dish and gave it back. He said to her, "Thanks, that was great!" I couldn't believe it. I told him that he should've said, "No, there is no way I'm eating that. Definitely not. Do not bring me any other bodily-function puddings."

People trying too hard to be funny. Like clowns. They put on a big pair of trousers and a big red nose and they fall over. The only way that would be funny is if he was forced to dress up and he was watching his family being tortured, and then he fell over.
Now that's funny.

Conspiracy theories. They were annoying enough when it was just people talking bollocks in pubs. But now with the Internet, there are forums. These people can find each other. There was one great conspiracy theory about the end of our HBO series, "Extras." In the last episode we had a scene with my partner on the show, Stephen Merchant, and Robert De Niro—and the conspiracy theory was that De Niro was not actually in the room with Stephen. "You can see that it's a split screen," they claimed. Right. We got De Niro, but the hard bit was getting Stephen in the same room. That makes sense. It's just people who think they're clever. No, you don't know anything. You live with your mum, you're on the computer all day. You've got three friends, and you've never actually met any of them.

Lazy journalism. I've actually had good luck with the media, because early on I established that I only talk about work. I don't invite magazines around my home. So I've had a great ride. But one of the first times I went out to an award show, this journalist on the red carpet asked me, "What advice would you give to someone who wants to be famous like you?" Like that was my aim—getting famous. So I said, "I don't know. Kill a prostitute?"

Thanks Ricky that made my afternoon.

It's a Sunday thing

This OJ is a good vintage

Follow me my child

On Sundays my family meet up at the Wolverton House Hotel for lunch and a chance to catch up with my incredibly scrumptious niece and nephew Em-Jay and Freddie.

This venue has various benefits over the old one (my parents' house) as it has a carvery for those of us who choose to eat, a bar for those of us who choose to drink and a great play ground for all of us because no matter what mood you are in the kids always get us to chase them around the climbing frame and the slides.




Bart and I don't always make it but we did today, and what a great day it was the sun came out and we almost had a full hose only my brother Mick couldn't make it today (Get well soon Mick) so there was plenty to catch up on.

There will be no get together next weekend as the kids are off to Majorca in the morning for some sun and sand. I hope Sharon and Damien get some time to relax.

Her are some pictures of a typical Kelly Sunday.

Em-Jay helps Mum and Granddad to figure how to get from the air port to the hotel tomorrow using the sat nav.





See you all in two weeks time.

Here's one for the mums

Has this happened to any of you guys?

And back to the norm

Puppy attacks door stopper.

Brean Sands

We are now back to our normal routine after our last beach holiday of the year. We spent a relaxing but wet week in our caravan at Brean sands in Somerset.

The last time I holidayed in Brean I looked like this and it was 1990 -91 I think.



The resort had changed beyond all recognition I only realized that it was the same place when I had a conversation with a beach patrol guy who confirmed that this was the same beach that my brothers Mick and John had driven my VW camper on all those years ago. The entrance is now in a new place and the huge holiday park opposite was relatively new and the field that we camped on in the 90's was (probably) the same one that we where on last week.

On the first day I got up at 6am after an all-night rainstorm to find a couple of hundred pounds of water gathered in the roof of the awning. I was amazed that it was still standing. I didn't have the foresight to take a picture. The week continued in the same vein. We did have some good days and we did get some good shots of the dogs and the beach and the menacing skies.

See if you can spot the promised kite surfer. Click to enlarge. Enjoy.

Gone West

We are off on holiday today, as soon as we get all our crap together anyway. We are heading West once more, to Brean Sands just outside Western Super-Mare where the pier recently burned down.

I will have my kite with me so hopefully some of those promised photos will finally appear on my blog. Brean is becoming famous for its power kiting the beach is huge seven miles of golden sands so it has become destination of choice for all those buggy and landboard boys. So if there is no footage of me, there should at least be some of the professionals!

See you all next week.

For Fiona

You know how there are people in the public eye that you shouldn't find attractive but you do.

Well I don't! Her are Armstrong and Miller.

Smart thinking

After talking about the Smart car winning the Cannonball 3000 a couple of posts ago, I got to thinking about the fun that I have had on the Smart London to Brighton rally. A select group of close friends and I went on the first five of these annual events but regrettably we have missed the last couple. As I work for MBUK we have always been lucky enough to be given some of the best cars to use on the day. One year in particular I was given the opportunity of driving the first leg in a Crossblade (see above picture). As you can see this model is a little different, it has no roof, no windscreen and no doors. There is just a cross bar keeping you in, a bit like a roller coaster mechanism but on the side rather than the front so snowboarding goggles and a crash helmet are recommended. It is not the fastest car I have ever driven but it is without doubt one of the most fun. We had people waving at us from bridges en route, and drivers flashing lights and waving all the way to Brighton.


The second Smart London to Brighton run will take place on Saturday September 27.

Smart move: the Smart London to Brighton rally 2002

The run starts at Kempton Park in south London and finishes at Black Rock Car Park in Brighton. Prizes will be awarded for the best modified Smart and the most unusual and creative car.

The rally follows on from the success of last year's inaugural event, jointly organised by Thesmartclub and DaimlerChrysler, in which more than 800 Smart owners took part.

Sarah, the friend I talked about in the 'Small but mighty' post gave me a birthday gift the year after the Crossblade event. The gift was a book titled Smart thinking, it records the history so far of the Smart car and the people who love them.

I thought that this was a really nice gift and thanked her. Sarah then opened the book at page 199 chapter 14 (smart & fans) somewhere near the middle and guess who was looking back at me from the full page picture. That's right it was me, in full glory in the Crossblade on Brighton beach. My glamorous co driver is Sarah herself but you can't really tell as she had just opened the door (bar) and covered her face. You just have to trust me she is gorgeous.

Here are some pictures taken on various London to Brighton runs. As you can see fun and laughter are guaranteed.



Obviously this is not me but it's a good picture of the car. I will add my pictures as soon as I can figure out where they are.

Daft Bodies - Harder Better Faster Stronger

Just sharing. Thanks Mandy.

And something a little different