Battle won

Five retired Gurkhas and a serviceman’s widow have successfully challenged an immigration policy preventing Gurkhas who retired before 1997 from settling in the UK. Tuesday’s judgment by Mr Justice Blake at the High Court alluded to the Military Covenant, an agreement between servicemen and the nation to honour debts of gratitude owed to them. Around 2,000 former Gurkhas are now free to live here. London firm Howe & Co acted for the claimants.

Actor Joanna Lumley is flanked by claimants Lachhiman Gurung VC (left) and Tul Bahadur Pun VC, who won his medal saving the life of Lumley’s father in Burma during the Second World War.