The £1.4 billion invasion of 36,000 work-shy Gurkhas

Last August I wrote that the figures being quoted by the Labour Government to try to avoid extending UK settlement rights to all Gurkhas were ridiculous and the assumptions to reach them were desperate and offensive.  The £1.4 billion cost of settlement was based on all 36,000 retired Gurkhas coming to the UK with their entire family and not one of them ever working again.

Apart from another failed smear attempt from Kevan Jones - if he couldn't get away with allegedly trying to smear General Dannatt what on Earth made him think attacking Joanna Lumley was a good idea? Didn't he see what happened to Phil Woolas when he tried to stand up to her? - and a bizarre suggestion that 12 Gurkha families arriving and needing £2,000 means that 12,000 families will do the same, the whole Gurkha settlement thing seems to have gone quiet.

So I put in a Freedom of Information request through WhatDoTheyKnow:

Please can you supply me with the numbers of former Gurkhas and their family members who have settled in the UK since January 2005?

Ideally this information should be broken down by month and year.

I am very interested to see whether the Nepal is emptying as quickly as Labour claimed it would.  Remember, they kept referring to the highest figure from their projections as if it was the most likely.  Now it seems that even their lowest estimate of 12,000 may be too high.

As usual, I'll keep you updated