AN MSP has called on her former colleagues in the SNP to rally behind her bid to hit those who buy sex with jail time or fines of up to £10,000.

The plea by Ash Regan came ahead of a vote on the independent MSP’s private member’s Bill, which seeks to criminalise the purchase of sex, decriminalise those who sell it, and offer increased support to leave prostitution.

Ms Regan’s efforts to bring the so-called Nordic model to Scotland were dealt a blow when Community Safety Minister Siobhian Brown announced that while agreeing that “men should not be able to purchase sex,” the Scottish government would not back the move amid concerns it would leave women “at a higher risk of violence.”

Opposing the Bill, Scottish Green MSP Maggie Chapman argued it would be “putting sex workers at greater risk of violence and poverty.”

But Scottish Labour and the Tories will back it, and Ms Regan hopes that more SNP MSPs will join their colleagues Ruth Maguire and Michelle Thomson in support.

Ahead of the vote, she said: “The public will be watching and expecting that their Parliament backs the principle that women’s bodies are not for sale and that women who have been exploited into prostitution should be supported.”

Pointing out the Bill “is SNP policy,” she said that if it passes, “it will be because SNP MSPs have joined other parties that agree that prostitution is a form of violence against women.”

“If it fails, it will be because SNP MSPs have joined the Scottish Greens to vote for the continued exploitation of women’s bodies,” she said.

“I plead with them to do the former as the Scottish public will not accept the latter.”