William Scholes, Irish News, April 24, 2005
A campaign to have the soldiers convicted of murdering Belfast teenager Peter McBride dismissed from the British army has won the backing of London mayor Ken Livingstone.
Mr McBride was 18 years old when he was killed by two Scots Guards in the New Lodge area of north Belfast in September 1992.
His sister Kelly met Mr Livingstone and Labour Party Westminster election candidate Yasmin Qureshi in London yesterday (Thursday).
Ms Qureshi has pledged, if she wins the Brent East seat in north London, to push for a change in the law which would see the automatic dismissal of any member of the armed forces found guilty of a serious human rights violation, including murder, rape and torture.
The campaign to change the law is being organised by Derry-based human rights group The Pat Finucane Centre.
Brent East has the highest Irish vote of any British electoral constituency.
Ms Qureshi, a human rights barrister, said the McBride family's campaign "deserves much wider support".
"If we want to retain full confidence in the armed services then it is common sense that where a member of the armed services has been found guilty of a serious crime such as murder, rape or torture, then they should not be able to retain their position in the military," she said.
Although Mr McBride's killers were convicted of murder, they were released early from a life sentence and allowed to rejoin the British army by an internal board which included NIO minister John Spellar.
Paul O'Connor of The Pat Finucane Centre said the meeting with Mr Livingstone and Ms Qureshi had been "very productive".
"This has dragged on for too long. The McBrides should not be in London campaigning for this."