Before the vote in the House of Commons, reporter Chris Denham spoke to retired Gurkha lieutenant Madan Gurung.

Formerly of Folkestone and Maidstone, he now lives in Kew and while he would have been given leave to remain under the new rules, he did not accept them.

For reasons of space we were unable to print the full interview in the Kentish Express newspaper, so here it is:

Madan said: "When we joined the Army the Gurkhas were signed for 15 years’ service. Having said that, if you become an officer then you can serve more than 20. As a private soldier you have to leave after 15 years and you have to go back to Nepal even if you don’t want to leave.

"I will be allowed to have settlement rights because I served for 24 years - but I am shocked that all my colleagues and friends are left out.

"I will not accept those rights if they turn down my colleagues. According to the Government they will be deported back to Nepal because they are not qualified. They could stay if they have gallantry medals but while all soldiers go war, only one in 100 get any award. Are they saying that the rest fought for nothing?

"Are they just cheap labour? Is it a donkey job? If there are soldiers there are officers and if there are officers there are soldiers. What has happened is that we have been used, abused, and dumped.

"The loving people of Great Britain loves us so much and they are happy to welcome us into the UK - but the Government says no. We will not only fight tomorrow, we must fight until all our colleagues get their rights.

"The pension is also a disgrace. I served as a lieutenant and I only get one small part of the British counterpart.

"When I applied for settlement rights in 2007 I was still waiting 14 months later when they told me I did not have strong ties to the country.

"The Government and the Queen gave me my commission to become and officer but now they were telling me I didn’t have any ties to their country. I was shocked and ashamed."

Mr Gurung was left in limbo and only survived in the UK thanks to the kindness of Shepway Cllr Peter Carroll and the Gurkha community in Folkestone. He was not allowed to claim benefits or work and had he not been so upset by his poor treatment, he says he would have gone back to Nepal.

His pension remains £220 a month, despite retiring as a lieutenant and he has been found a home and food vouchers by the Royal British Legion.

He said: "Peter Carroll did everything for me. He and councillor Dhan Gurung are really, really good people and everyone I have come across has been supportive.

"I was lucky but for my colleagues I feel very badly hurt."