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Miss Widdecombe: Will the Minister please interpret for me the difference in Ministerspeak between "shortly" and "nearing completion"?

Mr. Browne: I did not intend to convey any different messages. I intended to give the right hon. Lady the impression that we were moving to the point of completion. Because we are dealing with issues of advice and consideration of advice, and because a number of people are involved—I cannot make the decision alone, but must engage in consultation—I cannot bind any individuals to a timetable that is unreasonable. I am sure that she and the House will understand that. I cannot bind other people's thought processes.

In my introductory remarks—which have now taken up the bulk of my speech—I have tried to explain the complexity of the decisions involved. I do not know whether, when she was a Home Office Minister, the right hon. Lady had an opportunity to go into that complexity, but if she did not I must say, with respect, that she is at a disadvantage. Having done so myself, I do not think it unreasonable to have taken much of last year to set up the review, take the necessary advice and reach the point that we have reached. We should bear in mind the history, and the fact that the solution will need to serve us for at least another 50 years.

It seems to me distinctly unreasonable—in the context of the time scale of not just the service of the Gurkhas to the British Army but the persistence of the present agreement and arrangements—to keep saying that it is all taking far too long. It is not taking far too long, given what has to be done. I am sure that when announcements are made and their consequences are appreciated, Members throughout the House, along with those outside who are aware of the issues, will agree that it has not taken too long.

Let me try to deal quickly with some of the specific issues that the right hon. Lady asked me about. She repeated some of the arguments that she advanced in
 
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her earlier Adjournment debate. In particular, she asked me to intercede with the Ministry of Defence with regard to the issue of accompanying families. Partly as a result of what she said in that earlier debate, that issue too is being reviewed by the MOD. I am not in a position to tie the MOD and its Ministers to any time scale, but I understand that Ministers expect to make announcements later this year. I am sure that if the issues can be resolved in that time, she will be content.

The right hon. Lady asserted that NATO troops are allowed to settle in the United Kingdom. I am not sure exactly which NATO troops she was thinking of. It is not my understanding that troops who served with NATO are entitled by the immigration laws to acquire settlement status in the UK. It is, however, true that Commonwealth troops serving in the British Army can settle. That is my understanding of the law, but I shall have it checked, and if I have inadvertently given the House incorrect information I shall write to the right hon. Lady.

The right hon. Lady drew attention to something of which I was not aware, and as a result I shall ensure that it is looked into. I refer to her assertion that children can be left here when their parents are required to return to Nepal. I agree that that is not an appropriate way in which to treat children, and I should have thought that it was inconsistent with our domestic legislation, which constrains us to act in the best interests of individual children. My simple approach is that most children are better off with their parents, if their parents are loving and caring. I am not aware of the arrangement to which she referred, but I will look into it and write to her.

I see that I am running out of time. Let me finally reassure the House that the current review is being conducted in the best interests of the Gurkhas. In the meantime, outstanding applications have been held in limbo, as it were—held aside—to ensure that—

The motion having been made after Seven o'clock, and the debate having continued for half an hour, Mr. Deputy Speaker adjourned the House without Question put, pursuant to the Standing Order.

Adjourned at Eight o'clock.

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