THE SNP were accused last night of blocking a new law to ban men from paying prostitutes for sex.
A public consultation on the proposed Purchase of Sex Bill found almost 80 per cent of respondents would back laws targeting punters.
But the proposal needed cross-party support – and the SNP issued a three-line whip forbidding MSPs to give their backing.
The bill was put forward by Labour MSP Rhoda Grant, who hoped it would lead to men who buy sex being prosecuted instead of women trapped in the trade.
Of the 953 responses to the consultation from sex workers, customers, health boards, charities, councils, police, lawyers, church groups and academics, 758 were in favour of a law against paying for sex.
The Scottish Government have said they recognise that prostitution is a form of violence against women.
And last night, Grant said: “They now need to explain how they will tackle this problem. Laws surrounding prostitution will continue to penalise women and only deal with public nuisance while allowing the punter – the perpetrator of this crime – to get away scot-free.
“These issues will not go away as women continue to be coerced into prostitution.
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“I will continue to press for the introduction of legislation that aims to tackle the demand side of the industry and support those who have been failed by society.”
The Women’s Support Project’s Linda Thompson added: “Parliament has effectively been gagged.”
But the SNP’s Sandra White said: “We shared the concerns of Lib Dem, Green and
independent MSPs who did not consider Ms Grant’s proposals to be the most effective way of addressing the issue.”