Thursday 20 December 2007

Harriet Harman is a complete and utter moron

She reckons that the "UK should outlaw paying for sex" because this "would counter international human trafficking which sees girls bought and sold by criminals in the UK".

Er ... aren't "international human trafficking", kidnapping and rape already illegal? Can't these Nulab idiots concentrate on enforcing existing laws before they invent new unenforceable ones?

I've read the article and it doesn't say anywhere that there'd be an exemption for legally resident prostitutes, so why ruin things for them, because of a crime in which they are not the slightest bit involved (and from which they do not even benefit - more competition = lower prices)?

There are some cracking comments from UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom in the last few paragraphs - well worth scrolling down!
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Update, Vindico and Remittance Man reached pretty much the same conclusion.

6 comments:

Simon Fawthrop said...

Mark,
As I commented elsewhere before reading the MEP's comments, if Nulab wants to stop prostitution all they have to do is nationalise it.

Gregg said...

Interesting that prohibition of alcohol led to it being imported into the USA illegally (trafficked) and gave Uncle Sam the Mafia and a continuing organised crime problem. Just legalise prostitution then there would be no need for human trafficking.

Mark Wadsworth said...

GS, I saw that at Vindico's, tee hee anyway!

GB, exactly, if all activities related to prostitution* were legalised, taxed and regulated (e.g. health checks, minimum age etc), we'd all be better off for it. I can see why people don't like kerb-crawling near their homes but that's about the only objection I understand.

And if we legalise, tax and regulate drugs as well (heroin plus fresh needle @ £5 a pop from the chemists?) then there'd be fewer women turning to prositution as well. So the prostitutes who have made a deliberate career choice would have less competition, so they'd be better off.

Trebles all round for the pragmatic-libertarians!

* Bearing in mind that prostituion itself is not illegal, it's just all the other stuff.

Scott Freeman said...

Prostitution is one par sex, one part free enterprise. Which one is she opposed to? Oh, I forgot. Both.

Penny Pincher said...

Well I agree I think if prostituion was legalised then people could set up sex shops/houses and the need for kerb crawling would lessen.

Besides a proper form of pay structure along with HASatW, taxes, NI conts, pension funds etc. then there would be a requirment for proper training courses to NVQ standards and why not include a kind of voucher system which could be used as an extention of sex education system. I can see a whole new Civil Serpent department being set up to regualte this. Some vouchers could be be free on the NHS

I can imagine it all ....

Mark Wadsworth said...

LT, even that would be less bad than trying to ban it outright.