More questions than answers to banning sex for sale trade

SERIOUS MATTER: Regan's Bill is an 'ambitious attempt at law'

- Alan Grant Writer and Commentator

IN these columns, I usually like to have fun. From where I sit, there are already enough very serious boys and girls with their furrowed brows and reserved language to choose from.

If I know my readership, such as it is, they’re here for obscure movie references, poking fun at politicians and politics, and a fair old slug of sarcasm and hyperbole. To such readers, I apologise because this is a serious one — I'll get back to the irreverence soon, I promise.

Ash Regan, the sole Alba MSP in Holyrood, has launched a bill that aims to criminalise purchasing sex. Her proposed legislation also aspires to give prostitutes a way out of sex work and to tip the balance of punishment away from those employed in the sinisterly termed “sex industry” and towards punishing their clients. It is an ambitious attempt at law, broad in scope and in its desire to create change.

Regan’s initiative has sparked a debate about prostitution in Scotland in 2025. Those who read the context will appreciate that we have a difficult history with the so-called oldest profession with the advent of OnlyFans and other online platforms rendering already murky waters even more treacherous.