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KERB CRAWLING LEGISLATION PASSED IN SCOTLAND
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From
the BBC:
MSPs have approved new legislation which for the first time
will allow the prosecution of kerb-crawlers.
The bill will give police the power to arrest men in cars
or loitering with the intention of buying sex services.
Local authorities are to receive an extra £1m to help
tackle street prostitution in other ways.
SNP MSP Fergus Ewing called for driving bans to be added to
penalties. However, ministers said this area was reserved,
and Westminster may consider them.
The Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Bill will see
men who buy sex face prosecution and fines of up to £1,000.
During the final debate on the bill at Holyrood, Deputy Finance
Minister George Lyon said it would provide Scotland with the
toughest legislation on kerb-crawling in the UK.
"It will send an unequivocal message to those who purchase
sex on our streets that their behaviour will no longer be
tolerated," he said.
"We believe that it will act as a deterrent to those
who seek to do so."
Mr Ewing lost his bid to amend the bill so that kerb-crawlers
could lose their licences and have their cars seized.
He said: "If a burglar's tools can be confiscated because
they assist him in committing crime, so I would argue for
persistent offenders."
Liberal Democrat backbencher Mike Rumbles said a potential
£1,000 fine would act as a sufficient deterrent on its
own.
Independent MSP Margo MacDonald, who had efforts to legislate
for formal prostitution tolerance zones rejected in 2003,
said Mr Ewing's amendment would risk driving prostitution
underground and therefore putting vulnerable women at further
risk.
Mrs MacDonald also called for the bill to be "quietly
voted down", arguing that it had changed radically since
it was first introduced to Holyrood.
But MSPs voted in favour of the bill by 103 votes to four
with eight abstentions.
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