Premiership of Gordon Brown into further talks over the issue. Finally, after a Commons Home Affairs Committee meeting between campaigners, the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office on 19 May, Brown announced to the House of Commons on 20 May that the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith would make a statement on the issue the following day. Smith subsequently announced that all Gurkha veterans who had served four years or more in the British Army before 1997 would be allowed to settle in Britain. In the days following the release and high-profile return to Libya of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in August 2009, speculation
Dumfries, Lochmaben and Lockerbie Railway with a northbound goods train on the main line. The collision took place immediately north of Lockerbie station. The collision was relatively mild, but the Up line was obstructed, and an Up express passenger train collided with them, being derailed onto the station platform. Seven people were killed, including the driver and fireman of the express, and 300 people were injured. The guard of the express train ran back down the line to warn another approaching Up express train of the accident, preventing a further collision. The driver of the first train, the Lockerbie station master and the District Inspector