Ash Regan is a Member of the Scottish Parliament, currently sitting as an independent having previously been a member of the SNP. Her Unbuyable Bill, which sought to criminalise the buying of sex while decriminalising the selling of it, reached Stage One of the Scottish Parliament before being voted down. We discussed why she feels prostitution laws in Scotland need to change.

Timestamps

Timestamps

00:00 — Introduction

00:58 — What the Unbuyable Bill proposes

05:13 — The SNP votes the bill down at Stage One

08:52 — How current Scottish law on prostitution works

10:44 — What the bill would criminalise and decriminalise

15:02 — The Nordic model — how it works and the evidence behind it

16:00 — Germany and Sweden as contrasting case studies

18:38 — The consent debate

19:32 — Who is in prostitution — statistics on trafficking, abuse, and coercion

24:09 — Grooming victims and trafficking victims

27:24 — The Epstein files and exploitation across society

29:38 — Scottish Government inaction and prospects for future legislation

32:36 — The “driving underground” argument

36:26 — Ash’s plans to stand as an independent at the next election

Relevant Links

Ash Regan — Scottish Parliament profile:

https://www.parliament.scot/msps/current-and-previous-msps/ash-regan

Ash Regan on X (Twitter):

https://x.com/AshRegansNow

The Unbuyable Bill

https://unbuyable.org/