The Bill was promised in the Queen’s Speech earlier this week.
Former sailor Michael Lyons, who was sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment in 2011 after he developed a conscientious objection to the war in Afghanistan but was refused the right to leave the Royal Navy, has backed the call by the Peace Pledge Union (PPU).
Members of Britain’s armed forces have the right to apply for discharge if they develop a conscientious objection.
But Mr Lyons warned that, in practice, conscientious objection can lead to harassment, death threats and incarceration.
“We must listen to the unique views and experiences of those military personnel who choose to stand up and speak out if we are ever to find a way out of perpetual war,” he said.
SACKED veterans minister Johnny Mercer was criticised over a “vile” tweet today in which he appeared to dismiss the killing of a young Irish man during the Troubles.
The former minister came under fire after posting a photo from Saturday’s veterans protest in Parliament Square with his arm round Dennis Hutchings, the Cornish former squaddie who is facing trial for the attempted murder of John Pat Cunningham in Tyrone in 1974.
Mr Cunningham, a 27-year-old man with learning difficulties, was fatally shot in the back while running away from an army patrol near Benburb.
Mr Mercer tweeted: “[Hutchings] is due to stand trial in September for something that happened 46 years ago in Northern Ireland.
Boris Johnson fired former veterans minister Johnny Mercer last week BORIS Johnson promised to intervene to prevent a murder trial from going ahead, a former minister has claimed. Johnny Mercer, who was last week fired as veterans’ minister by text before he could resign, made the claims in an interview with the Daily Mail. Mercer, the MP for Plymouth Moor View, also implicated himself in the allegations, saying that he and the Prime Minister had made promises not to allow the murder trials in question to begin. However, Johnson seemingly did not keep his promise. The former veterans minister had been pushing for protections against prosecution for soldiers in the Overseas Operations Bill to be extended to those who served in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.
Boris Johnson (left) and former minister Johnny Mercer on the General Election campaign trail together in 2019 A TORY minister who was fired from Boris Johnson’s government has described Westminster as the most distrustful, awful environment . Johnny Mercer, the MP for Plymouth Moor View, told Times Radio that he views politics as a “cesspit” where “almost nobody tells the truth”. The now former minister was “forced to offer [his] resignation” yesterday after accusing Boris Johnson of failing to uphold a pledge to prevent the prosecution of British Army veterans who had served in Northern Ireland. Two former members of the parachute regiment, known as Soldier A and Soldier C are due to go on trial for the murder of the Official IRA commander Joe McCann in Belfast in 1972.