Prostitution Scotland: Ash Regan blasts former party as SNP MSPs refuse to back her bill

MSPs will be asked to vote on Ash Regan’s Unbuyable bill next month, which aims to introduce what is known as the Nordic model in Scotland. This would see the selling of sex decriminalised and the buying of sex criminalised instead.

However a key Holyrood committee is split on whether or not to support the bill proceeding to the next stage.

The criminal justice committee said it unanimously agrees with the bill’s position that prostitution is a form of violence against women and girls.

However, all the SNP MSPs on this committee have refused to back the bill.

Thousands of people receive The Steamie newsletter - join them now

They said “substantial” changes needed to be made to the bill and warned there may be “unintended consequences for the safety of women” if the Nordic model is introduced.

The committee also notes there is “insufficient time” left before the next Scottish Parliament election to properly scrutinise the bill.

Audrey Nicoll MSP, the committee’s convener, said: “Our key concern when considering this bill is will it make women and girls safer, and while every committee member recognises the harms of prostitution and supports the goal of reducing its prevalence, our committee is unable to achieve consensus on whether this bill will achieve that.

“The conflicting evidence we have heard on the impact of this bill has made our decision on whether to back it extremely difficult, and the differing positions of committee members show that each of us has considered their position in great detail.”

She added the evidence that has been provided is “not definitive and is highly contested”, and therefore it will be up to individual MSPs on how they choose to vote.

Ms Regan has blasted her former party, and said: “There is no consensus against the legislation - on the contrary, my Unbuyable bill has attracted strong and serious support from across the parliament.”

She said she has the “explicit backing” of Police Scotland, the Crown Office, Cosla (the umbrella body for Scotland’s 32 councils), Women’s Aid and a number of frontline support services.

Ms Regan added: “What the public will be most shocked by is that four of the eight committee members who do not support the principles of my bill at stage one are members of my former party, the SNP.

“The same SNP that, for years, has gone on record in the Scottish Parliament supporting the principle of criminalising the purchase of sex.

Read more: Prostitution Scotland: Former prostitute says 'multiple' MSPs from Scottish Parliament bought her for sex

“They have acknowledged the overwhelming evidence that prostitution is driven by inequality, coercion, and male demand, and that buyers, not exploited women, must face criminality.”

She added: “When it comes to turning promises into action, commitments are quietly abandoned when it comes to protecting women and girls.

“I am shocked that the SNP would again fail another generation of vulnerable women and girls, leaving them to the mercy of the trade in commercial sexual exploitation.”

She said “protecting sex buyers is a decision”, and added: “I doubt any MSP could look a survivor of prostitution in the eye and explain their choice to do nothing - again while making more promises, with their fingers crossed behind their backs.”

MSPs are due to vote on stage one of the bill at the beginning of February.