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  As I previously stated sooner rather than later the gate has to shut and now it's the Iraqi interpreters turn to bang at the gates of the UK. Where is Joanna Lumley now?
  
  The Government has been accused of being "mean-spirited" after deciding to close a resettlement programme for Iraqi workers who helped the British occupying forces.
  Foreign Office officials confirmed the Gateway Protection Programme - set up in 2007 to help 600 Iraqis potentially at risk of reprisals to start new lives - is to close on May 19.
  The Foreign Office said the Gateway scheme was never meant to be open on an indefinite basis.
  
  It gives former interpreters, cleaners and other local staff the option of relocating to Britain, receiving a cash sum to stay in Iraq or resettle elsewhere.
  People are only eligible to apply if they worked for a year from January 1 2005.
  The criteria have been criticised as too restrictive, with reports also claiming that many interpreters were forced to quit earlier than the cut-off date because of intimidation.
  Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone told The Times of the scheme's closure: "There are going to be people still in danger. The enemy is still out there. It is mean-spirited."
  Conservative MP David Lidington added: "I cannot see why they are in such a rush. If the numbers (of outstanding applicants) are small then what is the harm in keeping it open? And if the numbers are large then it is being wound up prematurely. Britain has a duty to help anyone who is in danger because they worked for our Armed Forces. We have been concerned for a long time that the criteria for the scheme has been drawn strictly and inflexibly."
  A Foreign Office spokesman said: "When the scheme was announced the commitment was to resettle up to 600 of the locally employed staff and their dependants. It was never intended that the Gateway option was on an indefinite basis.

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