“IT’S just wrong” — that’s the message from Bracknell MP James Sunderland after it was revealed a commonwealth-born army veteran is facing a £27,000 medical bill from the NHS for brain tumour treatment.

Fiji-born Taitusi Ratucaucau served in the British army for more than a decade including tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, according to The Guardian.

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Former army colonel James Sunderland, who had a 27-year military career before becoming Bracknell’s MP last year, served with Mr Ratucaucau in Germany as part of the Royal Logistic Corp.

Mr Sunderland told the News: “We’re both veterans together, we’re the same age as well and he’s a member of my own corp.

“I am of the view if you have served in the British Army, if you’ve taken the Queen’s shilling, if you’ve worn the uniform, then we’re all in this together.

“Therefore it is categorically wrong, in my view, for military veterans to be treated differently once they leave the service.

“For me, the immediate imperative is that this poor soldier, and his young family, on the back of a major brain operation, who haven’t got much money, is that he can recover now from this operation knowing he’s not facing this horrible bill.

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“The bill from the NHS should never have been raised in the first place. It’s just wrong.”

A number of fundraising pages have been set up to raise money for Mr Ratucaucau’s hospital bills.

Combined, more than £27,000 has been raised for his family.

But this episode has led to Mr Sunderland calling for more support for commonwealth army veterans.

Mr Ratucaucau is part of a group of eight commonwealth veterans who have launched legal action claiming government officials failed to assist them with complex immigration rules upon leaving the army, something the government denies.

The Bracknell MP added: “The legal action submitted by Taitusi and his colleagues related to the fact, in effect, they weren’t made aware enough by the Ministry of Defence of what they had to do at that time to apply for residency.

“If you leave the British army, you are not a British citizen. If you’re not a British passport holder, you can apply after five years.

“He didn’t do that, so having missed the window in policy terms, I think he got together with veterans groups who launched legal action against the government.

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“Had he successfully applied for residency having left the British army, then he would be a British citizen entitled to free healthcare.

“The bill from the NHS should never have been raised in the first place.

“Clearly there is a wider issue at stake in respect of his residency.

“Do I support him and his colleagues in their retrospective application to become British citizens? 100 per cent.”