I'm going to say something that may be unpopular. But, hey that's politics. I've watched the protest rally of former Gurkha Rifles in London this week with a mixture of sadness and regret. Sadness that some undoubted heroes feel that they have been unjustly treated. But regret that the whole issue has been hijacked by the media.

To understand what I am going to say next you need to understand a little of the history of the Gurkha Rifles. These proud men have, for generations, been recruited into the Indian Army and into the British Army with an understanding, agreed in 1947, that at the end of their service they would be returned to Nepal with a pension that would allow them to live in dignity in their domicile of origin.

The problem now is two fold: globalisation and the handover of Hong Kong.

Sadly, and few in the media reflect this, too many young Nepalese see a chance to serve four years in the Gurkha Rifles as a passport to the West. Of course there are examples of real heroes who have served the British Crown with distinction and dedication and now face the ignominy of deportation. But ever since the hand over of Hong Kong to China and the withdrawal of the Gurkha's from Hong Kong to Kent, they have been a regiment without a specific role.

Much as we must respect them, and having spoken to one retired Gurkha Officer this week I know many of the regiment will agree with me, the retention of the Gurkha Rifles today is a anachronism of faded Empire. The Gurkha's should have been disbanded with full military honours in 1997. And despite the fact that the British Army struggles to recruit enough fit men to serve from our own shores, doing so by taking on what are effectively enlisted mercenaries from six thousand miles away in this age of globalisation and migration has to come to an end.

The history of the Gurkha Rifles has been magnificent. But as we have done with so many grand old regiments, now is the time to call time, and allow them to march off into the Himalayan sunset, with full military honours, and a Nepalese pension.