Ash Regan MSP has introduced a private members bill into the Scottish Parliament, which if passed will bring the Nordic Model to Scotland. Known informally as the Unbuyable Bill and officially as the Prostitution, Offences and Support (Scotland) Bill, it is now working its way through the Scottish parliamentary legislative process. As a private members bill that does not yet have the formal backing of the Scottish Government, there is no guarantee that the Bill will pass.

Sex industry lobbyists have been working hard to make sure that the Bill does not pass, repeating many claims such that it will make the women less safe and will drive the industry underground. We need to make it clear that the Bill has widespread public support.

We are therefore calling everyone who lives in Scotland to contact their MSPs to ask them to support the Bill. We have a 2-minute tool that enables you to quickly send a template letter (which you can optionally edit) to your MSPs and also suggestions for writing your own personalised letter if you would prefer that.

Write using the 2-minute tool

Write your own personalised letter

It is always preferable to write your own personalised letter and we set out some tips if you want to do this. However, it’s better to send the template letter than nothing at all. This is definitely a numbers game – the more letters supporting the Bill, the more weight MSPs are likely to put on your views.

How to send your personalised email or letter

There are several ways you can send your email or letter:

• Using the Write To Them online portal.
• Using your normal email programme or by post. You can get your MSPs’ contact details at https://www.parliament.scot/msps. If you enter your postcode in the ‘Find MSPs by postcode’ box, it will provide a list of your constituency and regional MSPs.

Remember to include your full name and postal address including postcode in the letter. MSPs can reject letters and emails that do not include this information.

Tips for what to say

Be brief and to the point. We recommend no more than one and a half sides of A4.

Start the letter with: I am writing as a constituent….

Introduce yourself and ask them to support Ash Regan’s Unbuyable Bill. Explain what concerns you about prostitution and why you support the Nordic Model approach. You may wish to add some personal details – for example, a personal experience you have had or ways in which prostitution has affected you or someone you know.

You are welcome to copy and paste all or parts of our template letter, which is available for download as a PDF and is reproduced in full below. This covers many of the key issues.

You may want to end the letter by asking your MP to pass on your support for the Bill to the ministers responsible.

The template letter

You may adapt this or copy and paste from it if you wish.

Dear [MSP]

Prostitution, Offences and Support (Scotland) Bill

I am writing as a constituent to ask you to support Ash Regan’s Prostitution, Offences and Support (Scotland) Bill (known as the Unbuyable Bill).

Many people assume that prostitution is normal consensual sex, that it involves a negotiation about what will happen, and that the two parties are equally placed in this negotiation. This is a comforting illusion that eases the conscience and enables us not to think too much about the reality.

The truth is that none of these things are accurate. Emily got into financial difficulties when she was at university and swallowed the idea being promoted all around her that “sex work” is a real job, good money, a no brainer even, for cash-strapped students like herself. She found the reality to be very different:

“I was sold a complete lie. It’s not easy money. To the buyer, you are nothing more than an object for their consumption, not an actual human being with emotions. You’re expected to just put up with whatever they want to do and say to you. The exchange of money makes them feel entitled to treat you however they like, with no regard for your feelings or consent.”

Esther, who turned to prostitution after domestic violence and a messy divorce left her practically destitute, said:

“The punter is king. It’s a total myth that you can negotiate with him as an equal when you’re in a private space, operating in a competitive market, and under the threat of bad online reviews, reprisals from the brothel manager, and/or violence from your pimp. It’s nothing like the type of exchange you’d have with a sexual partner outside the sex trade.”

These quotes illustrate the reality: the (usually male) sex buyer pays (typically) a woman to participate in sexual activity that she would not otherwise countenance. She agrees because she needs the money. Consent is therefore constrained and not freely given. Accepting prostitution as involving meaningful consent therefore changes the understanding of consent to something that can be bought, sold, and coerced. This has profound social consequences – particularly for women. It reduces their status because it is predicated on the prioritisation of men’s desires and women’s submission to them. It positions women as second class or even subhuman. It normalises and trivializes sexualised violence.

It also invisibilises the poverty, racism, and structural inequality that lead so many women and girls into a position where they have little or no choice but to accept a life of prostitution, and the giant superstructure of third parties feeding off that – estimated in 2013 to be worth more than €100 billion a year globally and no doubt many times more now.

I support Ash Regan’s Bill as an ethical response to this serious social problem. The status quo is tantamount to endorsing this reality; to enshrining men’s de facto right to pay to use and abuse marginalised women – and the corollary that women do not deserve their financial and material needs to be met without submitting to men’s sexual use and abuse.

Internationally Scotland is rightly considered progressive in its approach to violence against women and girls. We were one of the first countries to have specialised domestic abuse courts that focus the attention of the criminal justice system on the perpetrators and holding them accountable.

It is now time that we adopt a similar progressive approach to prostitution. The Nordic Model, which this Bill seeks to introduce, is the only approach to policy and legislation that recognises prostitution as part of the structural oppression of women; as both a cause and a consequence of the persistent inequality between the sexes. It aims to change attitudes and men’s behaviour, and to reduce the size of the industry and the numbers of marginalised people drawn into it, while providing those already caught up in it with a viable transition out.

Yes, the Bill is ambitious. Yes, there are many challenges. But surely Scotland is up to these challenges just as much as Sweden, France and Ireland are? Yes, it will cost money. But not adopting this approach will cost far more.

Please support this Bill and do all you can to secure its successful passage through the parliamentary process and its eventual adoption.

Yours sincerely

[Your full name and address]

Further reading

• Why we support Ash Regan’s ‘Unbuyable’ bill in the Scottish Parliament
• Open letter to Scottish Ministers and MSPs in support of Ash Regan’s ‘Unbuyable’ Bill
• The Nordic Model as progressive and holistic solution to intractable social problems

FREE WEBINAR | 2pm GMT Sunday 11 January 2026

Why Ash Regan’s ‘Unbuyable’ bill is right for Scotland: Unravelling the myths around the Nordic Model

This free webinar will feature Ash Regan MSP and Venessa, a survivor of the Scottish sex industry, discussing the Unbuyable Bill. The webinar is free but you need to register in advance.