We were devastated to hear on Tuesday night that Scottish MSPs voted 64:54 against the Unbuyable Bill proceeding further.

We question why a whip was put on Greens, Lib Dems and SNP MSPs to vote against the Bill (although a number of SNP members bravely rebelled).

This seems particularly unfathomable when the SNP-led government already views prostitution as violence (how then can you force your members to vote against a Bill to criminalise perpetrators of that violence?).

There are a great many other questions to be answered too, with the debate on Tues highlighting a plethora of seeming political manoeuvres to scupper the Bill.

The debate was full of powerful, deeply moving speakers and can be viewed here:  https://www.scottishparliament.tv/meeting/stage-1-debate-prostitution-offences-and-support-scotland-bill-february-3-2026

A vote against the Bill does not just mean that sex buyers are still seen as ‘customers’ it means those they buy are still criminalised and will not have convictions for prostitution quashed. It means there is no guarantee for meaningful support for those in and hoping to escape prostitution. It means countless more ‘wee girls’ will be drawn into the industry and spat out (alive or dead).

Thank you for your support on this - we sent this petition to all MSPs. So all are aware of the false arguments and debunked research that is used to claim 'decriminalising punters is best'.

A huge thank you to Ash Regan, MSP, and her team and everyone else who fought so very hard for this Bill – most especially those from (and, sometimes, in) the industry who spoke out.

The fight is certainly not over!

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