The local authority used the Consul citizen engagement platform between January and March 2023 to gather public views on the city’s historical links to the transatlantic slave trade and how best to address its legacies.

According to a report submitted by the head of policy and corporate governance to the council’s wellbeing, equalities, communities, culture and engagement city policy committee earlier this month, the public engagement work was “significantly affected by online hostility and racist abuse”, despite planning that included “moderation training and secure login requirements” in a bid to reduce trolling.

Despite the abuse, the council is still using insights gathered to inform the development of a new city-wide heritage trail that aims to support understanding of and engagement with Glasgow’s links with slavery and colonialism. The trail is planned to launch in 2026.

The paper also recommended that the council should expand the “scope and scale of the community conversation” to build on insights gathered to date. The report said: “While digital tools such as online consultation platforms offer opportunities to broaden participation, there is also potential to link this work with activity in museums and cultural venues, including live discussion groups.”

In 2022, Glasgow City Council accepted the findings of an independent audit on Glasgow’s slavery legacy, produced by Dr Stephen Mullen, and issued an apology on behalf of the city and its predecessor institutions to the descendants of enslaved people.

At that point, the council reconvened a slavery legacy working group, with the remit of making recommendations including on the future of street names, monuments and buildings with links to slavery, and how the city should acknowledge its role.

To establish levels of awareness and interest in the subject, questions were also included in the Glasgow Household Survey and the findings indicated “a strong appetite for increased awareness and education”, according to the report to the committee. 

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “Despite our best efforts, public engagement was significantly affected by hostility online, including racist abuse. That is obviously unacceptable – and, we believe, likely to have discouraged some people from taking part in the consultation.

“However, we were still able together valuable insights into the public’s views that have informed the development of a new city-wide heritage trail.”