Local MP Cathy Jamieson has thrown her full support behind the NSPCC's "Flaw in the Law" campaign to help tackle online grooming.

The Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 makes this behaviour illegal in Scotland but there is no such legislation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This means sex abusers can often get away with effectively ‘fishing’ for child victims on social networks, mobile apps, chat rooms, and in online gaming environments. The NSPCC is inviting members of the public to sign its Flaw in the Law e-petition and to write to the Minister and Children and Families calling for his support.

Cathy said: "The internet poses a serious threat to child safety and the NSPCC is absolutely right to highlight the inadequate levels of protection for children who may be sent sexual material from adults online.

It is clear that there is a gap in the law and that is why I had no hesitation in giving my full support to this campaign, which proposes to change the law to make it always illegal for adults to intentionally send sexual messages to children.

I urge the UK Government to listen to the NSPCC’s concerns and to create a new offence through the Serious Crime Bill so that it is always illegal for an adult to send a sexual message to a child."

NSPCC Head of child safety online, Claire Lilley said: “We are very grateful to Cathy for supporting the Flaw in the Law campaign. The Serious Crime Bill currently going through Parliament provides a timely opportunity to learn from the law in Scotland and introduce a new offence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to better protect children online, and we hope MPs and the public will back the campaign calling on the Government to do this”.