GURKHAS tasted defeat yesterday when a judge ruled that the Ministry of Defence had not treated them unlawfully, despite offering pay and conditions inferior to those of British soldiers.
Twenty Nepalese veterans were represented by the Prime Minister's wife, Cherie Booth QC, in the High Court.
She said their treatment amounted to a breach under the European Convention of Human Rights.
Judge Mr Justice Sullivan said that, given the differences between life in Britain and Nepal, the gulf between pay and pensions offered was not so great that it could be described as "disproportionate or irrational".
However, he is continuing to consider whether their human rights have been breached because of restrictions on seeing their families.
The case has been watched closely in North Yorkshire, where many of the Gurkhas recruits do their training at Catterick Garrison.
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