Latest news with #TracyGilbert
Scotsman
11-06-2025
- Scotsman
Edinburgh MP calls for urgent action on prostitution including ban on 'pimping' websites
Edinburgh North & Leith Labour MP Tracy Gilbert has called for urgent action to tackle demand for prostitution and sex trafficking, including a ban on 'pimping' websites. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... In a debate at Westminster, Ms Gilbert said she wanted to turn the spotlight on men who used prostitutes but preferred to remain invisible. She said: "Sex buyers rely on being unseen while they ruin lives, leaving us as a society and the individual women to pick up the pieces of the carnage they cause. Edinburgh North & Leith Labour MP Tracy Gilbert has called for urgent action to tackle demand for prostitution | supplied Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "The demand from men who pay for sex fuels a brutal prostitution and sex trafficking trade. It funds predatory websites that make millions of pounds advertising women for sexual exploitation every day and causes untold trauma to some of society's most vulnerable women while undermining equality for all women." She said research had found 3.6 per cent of men in the UK admitted to having paid for sex in the previous five years. Those most likely to have paid for sex were single, aged between 25 and 34 and in managerial or professional occupations. And she said In Edinburgh over the weekend of June 7-8, some 142 women were being advertised for prostitution on one pimping website alone. Ms Gilbert said demand for prostitution was "not inevitable" and the law could had a critical role in deterring it. One UK study which asked over 1,200 sex buyers whether they would change their behaviour if a law was introduced that made paying for sex a crime found over half said that they would definitely, probably or possibly change their behaviour. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'While sex buyers are driven by male sexual entitlement, ultimately, they do it because they can. The law is not just failing to stop these men; it is making it easy. Not only is paying for sex legal in England, Wales and Scotland, so are the pimping websites advertising thousands of women each day for sex buyers to choose from. 'These websites function as massive online brothels. They are the go-to place for traffickers to advertise their victims. Pimping websites are making it as easy to order a room and to sexually exploit as it is to order a takeaway.' Ms Gilbert welcomed the Bill introduced in the Scottish Parliament by Edinburgh Eastern Alba MSP Ash Regan, which seeks to make the purchase of sex a criminal offence. And she backed amendments tabled for the Crime and Policing Bill at Westminster to outlaw pimping and paying for sex, and remove sanctions for soliciting. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Replying to the debate, junior Home Office minster Jess Phillips praised Ms Gilbert's passion and said she too had a long-standing interest in the issues raised. 'For too long, women and vulnerable people have been trapped in sexual exploitation under the guise of prostitution. The daily abuse that they suffer is truly horrific,' But she said legislation alone did nothing. 'We have to look at legislative models and at what will actually work. I am only interested in actual outcomes.' She added: 'As the minister, I will use every lever available to me to clamp down on sexual exploitation. The Government's position will be informed by the views of victims and survivors, the voluntary and community sector, which works directly with victims and survivors, the police and others.'
Edinburgh Reporter
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Edinburgh Reporter
Calls for the government to address demand for prostitution
The MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, Tracy Gilbert today led a parliamentary debate on Tuesday in Westminster Hall calling for urgent government action to address the demand driving prostitution and sex trafficking in the UK. Ms Gilbert said that the debate, 'That this House has considered the matter of tackling demand for prostitution and sex trafficking', focused on the urgent need to adopt a demand-reduction approach to tackle the exploitation of women and girls who are coerced, trafficked, or driven by poverty into the sex trade. Her speech highlighted the issue in Edinburgh, and some of the vulnerable women who have been affected by it, including Fiona Broadfoot who has spoken out about her treatment whilst working in an Edinburgh brothel. Tracy Gilbert said: 'In Edinburgh over the weekend (7 –8 June 2025), 142 women were being advertised for prostitution on one pimping website alone. Five of the top ten adverts are explicitly posted by so-called 'agencies' – so the site isn't even trying to hide the organised nature of this exploitation.' She outlined that current legislation fails to effectively deter those who purchase sex and called on the Government to explore legislative models that criminalise the buying, not the selling, of sex, as adopted in countries such as Sweden and Norway, and she gave examples of reviews made after the buying of sex including the following: 'Bad attitude. Everything was off limits.' 'Finally got her to lay there but it's like shagging a dead fish.' 'No smile, her atrocious English made the interactions even more impossible.' Tracy added: 'Men who buy sex are reviewing women as if they are reviewing an Xbox game. These comments prove that men who pay for sex treat women as subordinate sex objects whose role is to service their sexual desires.' Watch the debate online here: Like this: Like Related
Daily Record
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Record
Claims male MSPs paid a prostitute for sex raised by Scots MP in Westminster
Labour MP Tracy Gilbert raised the Daily Record's bombshell front page about a former prostitute claiming current MSPs bought sex from her when she sold her body for money. Claims male MSPs paid a prostitute for sex have been raised by a Scottish MP in Westminster. Labour MP Tracy Gilbert raised the Daily Record's bombshell front page about a former prostitute claiming current MSPs bought sex from her when she sold her body for money. The Edinburgh North and Leith MP said during a Westminster Hall debate: "Shockingly but not surprisingly, it was revealed last month that multiple members of the Scottish Parliament have paid for sex. We can only predict that members or former members of this House have too." Alba MSP Ash Regan told us last month the woman who was a former prostitute came forward to her after recognising her former male clients on TV. The revelation came as Regan launched a Bill to clampdown on people who pay for sex. Labour MP Gilbert called for the UK Government to consider criminalising the buying - but not the selling - of sex. In her Westminster Hall debate, Gilbert said the move would reduce the demand driving prostitution and sex trafficking. Some activities related to prostitution are currently illegal while sex buyers can fall foul of kerb crawling laws. Criminalisation of the buying of sex has been adopted in countries such as Sweden and Norway. In her speech, Gilbert gave examples of reviews made after the buying of sex. One said: 'Bad attitude. Everything was off limits.' Another said: 'Finally got her to lay there but it's like s******g a dead fish.' A third added: 'No smile, her atrocious English made the interactions even more impossible.' Gilbert added: 'Men who buy sex are reviewing women as if they are reviewing an Xbox game. These comments prove that men who pay for sex treat women as subordinate sex objects whose role is to service their sexual desires.' She said current legislation fails to effectively deter those who purchase sex: ' In one UK study, for instance, researchers asked over 1200 sex buyers, 'Would you change your behaviour if a law was introduced that made it a crime to pay for sex?' "Over half said they would 'definitely', 'probably' or 'possibly' change their behaviour. "While sex buyers are driven by male sexual entitlement, ultimately, they do it because they can. "Because the law isn't just failing to stop these men, it is making it easy.' She added: "It's time to bring demand into the full glare of the law – and stop sex buyers perpetrating this industrialised form of violence against women.'
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Terrifying moment blaze tears through Edinburgh banana flats as locals watch on
Edinburgh locals captured the terrifying moment a fire tore through the iconic banana flats on Friday night. Cables Wynd House saw a large fire break out around 10.50pm on June 6, with fire services battling the blaze for over eight hours. Video footage shared with Edinburgh Live shows flames pouring from the windows of a flat near the top floor. READ MORE: Excited Edinburgh couple take on new venture to transform community pub READ MORE: Edinburgh police cordon off city centre street in 'ongoing incident' Some residents filmed from the ground while others captured the chaos from inside Cables Wynd flats across a courtyard. Smoke can be seen billowing into the air from the scene. Police Scotland confirmed the flat was empty at the time and no one was hospitalised following the incident. All residents, bar two households, have been allowed to return to the building. A message on Cables Wynd House's Facebook called the fire "heartbreaking" and said residents are "waiting for answers" following the "scary experience". Locals and politicians took to social media offering words of support to those impacted by the blaze. Tracy Gilbert, MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, announced: "I can confirm that three people were treated at the scene last night for smoke inhalation but thankful did not require hospitalisation. Can I thank the Fire Services, Police Scotland and Edinburgh Council for the response last night. I'm so glad that everyone is safe." Chas Booth, a city councillor for Leith, said: "Very concerned to hear about this and my thoughts are with all those affected. I'm in touch with council officers about this and I understand staff are in the building this morning helping residents affected." A concerned local shared: "I wonder how it started and where. Very sad for the people affected. I've never heard this before in 50 years living in Leith." One resident of Cables Wynd House who captured the shocking footage told Edinburgh Live: "It was bad. I was a scared if someone was in the flat and I thought we were going to have to leave the building in case it started spreading more. "It was like something exploded. I feel bad for the people [who live there], they have lost all their stuff in the house fire." The message on the Cables Wynd House Facebook page read: "So tonight has been a really scary experience of a fire in the building, a fast evacuation and worries of lives of those anywhere near those flames. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. "This is a time for all of us to pull together & support each other. In kindness, respect & neighbourly solidarity. "We are waiting for answers but right now we're focusing on our neighbours who've all been through such a scary experience and those whose homes were damaged in the flats." A spokesperson from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: "We were alerted to a fire at Cables Wynd House, known locally as the 'banana flats' at 10.49pm on June 6. "We dispatched nine appliances and departed just after 7.00am on June 7. There are no casualties that we were made aware of." A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 11pm on Friday, 6 June 2025, police were advised by SFRS of a fire at a flat in Cables Wynd House, Edinburgh. "The flat was empty at the time. No one required to be taken to hospital. All residents, bar two households, have been allowed to return to the building. Enquiries into the cause of the fire, which at this time is not being treated as suspicious, are ongoing." Cables Wynd House was made famous by its appearance in the 1996 film Trainspotting. Built in the 1960s, it has since become an Edinburgh landmark. In 2017 it was given top listing by Historic Environment Scotland - the same level as Edinburgh Castle.
Edinburgh Live
07-06-2025
- General
- Edinburgh Live
Terrifying moment blaze tears through Edinburgh banana flats as locals watch on
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Edinburgh locals captured the terrifying moment a fire tore through the iconic banana flats on Friday night. Cables Wynd House saw a large fire break out around 10.50pm on June 6, with fire services battling the blaze for over eight hours. Video footage shared with Edinburgh Live shows flames pouring from the windows of a flat near the top floor. Some residents filmed from the ground while others captured the chaos from inside Cables Wynd flats across a courtyard. Smoke can be seen billowing into the air from the scene. Police Scotland confirmed the flat was empty at the time and no one was hospitalised following the incident. All residents, bar two households, have been allowed to return to the building. A message on Cables Wynd House's Facebook called the fire "heartbreaking" and said residents are "waiting for answers" following the "scary experience". (Image: Supplied) Locals and politicians took to social media offering words of support to those impacted by the blaze. Tracy Gilbert, MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, announced: "I can confirm that three people were treated at the scene last night for smoke inhalation but thankful did not require hospitalisation. Can I thank the Fire Services, Police Scotland and Edinburgh Council for the response last night. I'm so glad that everyone is safe." Chas Booth, a city councillor for Leith, said: "Very concerned to hear about this and my thoughts are with all those affected. I'm in touch with council officers about this and I understand staff are in the building this morning helping residents affected." A concerned local shared: "I wonder how it started and where. Very sad for the people affected. I've never heard this before in 50 years living in Leith." One resident of Cables Wynd House who captured the shocking footage told Edinburgh Live: "It was bad. I was a scared if someone was in the flat and I thought we were going to have to leave the building in case it started spreading more. "It was like something exploded. I feel bad for the people [who live there], they have lost all their stuff in the house fire." The message on the Cables Wynd House Facebook page read: "So tonight has been a really scary experience of a fire in the building, a fast evacuation and worries of lives of those anywhere near those flames. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sentstraight to your messages. "This is a time for all of us to pull together & support each other. In kindness, respect & neighbourly solidarity. "We are waiting for answers but right now we're focusing on our neighbours who've all been through such a scary experience and those whose homes were damaged in the flats." A spokesperson from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: "We were alerted to a fire at Cables Wynd House, known locally as the 'banana flats' at 10.49pm on June 6. "We dispatched nine appliances and departed just after 7.00am on June 7. There are no casualties that we were made aware of." A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 11pm on Friday, 6 June 2025, police were advised by SFRS of a fire at a flat in Cables Wynd House, Edinburgh. "The flat was empty at the time. No one required to be taken to hospital. All residents, bar two households, have been allowed to return to the building. Enquiries into the cause of the fire, which at this time is not being treated as suspicious, are ongoing." Cables Wynd House was made famous by its appearance in the 1996 film Trainspotting. Built in the 1960s, it has since become an Edinburgh landmark. In 2017 it was given top listing by Historic Environment Scotland - the same level as Edinburgh Castle.
