The fire that ripped through a tenement renovation in Possilpark has left more than a damaged building behind. It has raised serious questions about the spread of misinformation, the weaponisation of housing and immigration issues, and the consequences when false claims are repeatedly circulated online.
The tenements on Stonyhurst Street have stood derelict for around 20 years. After years of campaigning and work by local representatives, almost £3mn of investment was secured to bring the buildings back into use and create much needed homes in a community facing a serious housing crisis.
But before the fire, false claims had circulated online suggesting that the renovated properties were going to be used to accommodate asylum seekers or migrants.
Those claims were false.
Then, on Sunday 6 September at 4:50 pm, the building went up in flames.
Police Scotland subsequently confirmed that the fire was wilful. Thankfully, nobody was injured. A 48-year-old man identified as Graeme Moxey was arrested and charged in connection with the incident, and at Glasgow Sheriff Court on 14 September.
Paul Sweeney MSP went to the scene
Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney did not simply issue a statement from his office. He went to Possilpark and stood at the scene as firefighters tackled the blaze.
For Sweeney, the fire was particularly devastating because he had been directly involved, alongside other elected representatives, in efforts to secure investment for the buildings after two decades of dereliction.
Sweeney made clear who the homes were intended for, saying “This block here will be used to home those on the NG Homes housing waiting list, which is massively oversubscribed. It was never going to illegal immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers. It was never intended for that purpose at all.”
He further added “It’s completely depressing to see all the work that has gone in trying to improve Possilpark and areas round about being unwound by people just intent on malicious misinformation and vandalism when actually what we are trying to do is build houses, regenerate our communities and get people into a better standard of life.”
He described what had happened as “completely outrageous” and warned that misinformation had put a major community investment at risk.
NG Homes denies the claims
NG Homes, the housing association responsible for the refurbishment, had publicly addressed the misinformation before the fire, specifically, the claims that it was providing housing for people who were in the UK illegally.
It stated “This is incorrect”, explaining that as a registered social landlord, it does not allocate homes to people who are not legally eligible, and that all applications are assessed according to the relevant legal requirements.
Following the fire, NG Homes issued another statement, again directly addressing the misinformation. It said “We are aware that disinformation has circulated regarding the future use of the homes and would once again stress that these claims are false.”
The housing association confirmed that the buildings were being refurbished to provide “much-needed affordable homes”, and also thanked the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Police Scotland for their swift response, confirming that no one had been injured. It said the extent of the damage was still being assessed and that it was too early to confirm the impact on the project’s timescale.
Importantly, NG Homes said “Our focus remains on supporting the investigation and progressing the delivery of these much-needed homes for the Possilpark community as quickly as possible.”
That statement is significant because it puts the facts on record: the development was about providing affordable housing through the normal social housing allocation process – not creating accommodation specifically for asylum seekers.
From Possilpark to the Scottish Parliament
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament on 8 September, Sweeney directly linked the fire to the misinformation that had been circulating about the development. He said he believes “that this was a result of months of malicious online lies on social media that were intended to whip up community tensions.”
In an intervention that highlights the growing concern about the relationship between online misinformation and real-world harm, he asked First Minister John Swinney how responsibility for the incident would be apportioned.
Swinney made clear that the response could not stop with whoever physically started the fire.
He advised that “Those who are responsible for the action will be pursued, those who circulated information to incite that behaviour will be pursued and those who are responsible for celebrating such behaviour will also be pursued by Police Scotland.”
He described the inciting of racial tension and stirring up behaviour that led to the destruction of good accommodation as a disgrace, warning that people behaving in this manner would also face consequences.
The message from Holyrood was clear: deliberate fireraising is a crime, and the deliberate incitement of such behaviour can also have serious consequences where the evidence supports it.
A community pays the price
At the centre of this story are people who need somewhere safe and affordable to live. The work on the building was supposed to mean new homes for people on the local housing waiting list. Instead, the community has been left looking at a damaged building and wondering how much additional time and money will be required to repair the damage and get the project moving again. That is the real human cost of what happened.
Possilpark deserves investment, decent housing and a future where long derelict buildings can become homes.The community deserves to see the regeneration project completed. It deserves honest information rather than rumours, division and scapegoating.
Misinformation has consequences
People have every right to ask questions about housing, immigration and government spending, but their questions deserve factual answers. When false claims are repeatedly shared online, they can create fear and anger. When those claims target asylum seekers, refugees or migrants, they can also deepen racism and division. The Possilpark fire should therefore be a warning about the consequences of allowing misinformation to spread unchecked.
Words matter. Social media posts matter. The stories people choose to share matter. And when misinformation moves from a screen into the real world, the consequences can be devastating.
