Joanna Lumley has urged the UK government to meet with the Gurkha veterans who are staging a hunger strike about their pensions.
Joanna Lumley
The 75-year-old actress has voiced her support for the "brave and loyal" soldiers from Nepal - who were recruited into the British Army - amid their protest in London.
Joanna - whose dad was a major in the Gurkha Rifles, a regiment of the British Army that recruits soldiers from Nepal - said: "Seeing such brave and loyal Gurkha British Army veterans feeling they have no option but to take the drastic step of entering a hunger strike will be deeply upsetting to the vast majority of the public who understand the special place that all veterans have in our hearts, in our thoughts and the life of the nation.
"Only a deep sense of injustice could drive these brave and respectful souls to this point."
The veterans are seeking equal pensions for Gurkhas who retired before 1997 and are not eligible for a full UK armed forces pension.
And Joanna has come out in support of their protest, urging the government to engage with the veterans about the issue.
The 'Absolutely Fabulous' actress - who was born in India but moved to England during her childhood - explained in a statement: "At the heart of this matter is how we value those who have offered, and sometimes given, the ultimate sacrifice to protect our way of life and to keep us safe.
"I urge the government to meet these veterans and to cut through the morass of detail surrounding the complexity of the various pension schemes and find some way to address the injustices highlighted."
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