On Thursday in London, the British government announced a change in policy that will allow Nepalese Gurkhas, who have been recruited to serve in the British Army for almost 200 years, to settle in Britain after they retire. The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, made the

 announcement in Parliament while a group of Gurkha activists, led by their celebrity champion — Joanna Lumley, the actress who starred in “Absolutely Fabulous” — gathered outside the House of Commons and listened by walkie-talkie. 

The BBC showedGurkha campaigners celebrating as the announcement was made. Video of Ms. Smith’s statement to Parliament can be seen on on the Web site of Channel 4 News in London.

The sudden change of policy, coming at the end of a long public campaign by the Gurkhas, clearly provides the embattled Mr. Brown with some respite from a raft of news stories about outrageous claims for expense reimbursement by members of Parliament, a scandal that earlier this week led to the ouster of Michael Martin, a Brown ally, as Speaker of the House of Commons.

According to the BBC, all Gurkha veterans who retired before 1997 with at least four years’ service in the British armed forces will now be allowed to settle in the country; until now, some 36,000 Gurkhas who served in those years were denied residency. Ms. Smith said that she was “proud to offer this country’s welcome to all who have served in the brigade of Gurkhas.”

The BBC reports that Ms. Lumley returned the courtesy of the Downing Street invitation with some kind words for the prime minister:

Afua Hirsch of The Guardian explained who the Gurkhas are in a useful Q&A on their Web site:

The Brigade of Gurkhas are Nepalese soldiers who have been recruited to the British army since a peace treaty between the two countries was signed in 1815. They have fought as British soldiers in two world wars and many other conflicts, including those in the Falklands, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ms. Lumley, whose father served in the British army with Gurkha soldiers, had previously given Mr. Brown’s government a public relations nightmare when she pummeled a Home Office official live on television during an impromptu debate on the subject two weeks ago. The day after that exchange, Julian Glover, an editorial writer for The Guardian, suggested that the British public might support a coup by the Gurkhas to install Ms. Lumley as Prime Minister in Mr. Brown’s place.