The Shadow Social Security Minister Iain Duncan Smith, speaking in Glasgow as Tories gathered for the Scottish Conservative Party's annual conference, said that the government was delaying a review of the case to avoid alienating republicans during Irish peace process. He called for their immediate release.

"They are not political prisoners and should not be treated as political prisoners," he said.

The case, which has been subject to a number of reviews and appeals, reflects the controversy over the speed and scope of prisoner releases as part of the Irish peace agreement.

James Fisher, 29, from Ayr, and Mark Wright, 25, from Arbroath, were jailed for life six years ago for the murder of Peter McBride, a Belfast teenager, as he ran from their patrol. Their relatives argue that they have already served longer than Lee Clegg, who was jailed in a similar case.

Campaigners for the pair say the lack of a manslaughter charge in Northern Ireland for these kind of circumstances mean that sentences are for murder and therefore too harsh.

Hague attacks Dounreay closure

Conservative leader William Hague used the first day of the conference to attack Labour over the running down of the Dounreay reprocessing plant.

He said: "They said only recently that Dounreay was the safest place for reprocessing and now it seems the reprocessing is being run down altogether. This doesn't seem to stand up."

Mr Hague also expressed surprise at a poll in The Scotsman newspaper, which showed that 52% of Scots are in favour of independence.