Downing Street today promised to change the controversial rules determining which Gurkhas are allowed to settle in the UK after campaigners revealed that all five test cases of applications to stay in Britain had been rejected by the Home Office.
The prime minister's official spokesman described the guidelines recently published by the Home Office as the "old criteria" and said letters sent to Gurkhas rejecting their applications under these criteria had "no practical impact".
One of the Gurkhas who was told today that his application had been rejected was Falklands veteran Lance Corporal Gyanendra Rai, who was badly injured fighting for the 1st Battalion of the 7th Gurkha Rifles and featured in a recent Guardian video on the Gurkhas' plight.
Three other veterans – Deo Prakash Limbu, Birendra Man Shrestha and Chakra Prasad Limbu – had their applications turned down, as did a veteran's widow.
Gurkhas campaigner Joanna Lumley appeared at a press conference with the immigration minister Phil Woolas after the pair had an impromptu 30-minute private meeting to discuss the letters.
Lumley said Woolas had explained the legal process to her and she was confident the Gurkhas and their supporters would have a role in establishing new criteria for settlement.
Asked whether she felt she could trust the government's assurances, Lumley said: "I was filled with hope yesterday [after meeting the prime minister] but this is not an easy ride. I realise that you take three steps forward, four sharply back. But we're not going to give up."
After MPs rejected the government's settlement guidelines last week and voted for all Gurkhas to be allowed to settle in the UK, Gordon Brown said he would review the rules later this year after the 1,500 outstanding applications had been processed.
But today, shortly before Lumley's scheduled press conference, Downing Street went further, saying the guidelines currently in operation are effectively redundant because they are going to be replaced.
Asked about the five test cases, the prime minister's spokesman said: "The Home Office have a legal obligation to write to the five individuals involved in the judicial review to say how they would have been assessed under the old criteria. But they are also making it clear that those criteria will change. Any decision reached under the old criteria will not be implemented."
He described the sending of the letters as "no more than a technical implementation of a court case of a few weeks ago [a judicial review] that will have no practical impact".
The Home Office is trying to process the 1,500 outstanding applications before the end of May. The prime minister's spokesman said some of these cases were being approved.
The government's new position means that any of the 1,500 Gurkhas whose applications are rejected will be able to conclude that the matter has not been settled because new rules will be introduced later this year.
Lumley met Brown yesterday and said the prime minister had assured her he would ensure a fair deal for the Gurkhas.
Afterwards she said: "The meeting was extremely positive. He is wholly supportive of the Gurkha cause. He is going to come up with a new solution by the end of this month." But the prime minister's spokesman said that new proposals would be published "by the summer recess", which starts on 21 July.