Debate tribute to Dewar

Donald Dewar: Students want to honour his name

Students are starting to gather for a debating competition at which Scotland's late First Minister Donald Dewar will be remembered.

A prize named in his memory will be awarded at the World Universities Debating Championship, which is being held at his old university.

More than 900 students from 20 countries will take part in the competition at the University of Glasgow.

They started gathering for the event on Wednesday.

We are trying to do things in keeping with the way he was

Kate Bullions, debates convener

The best individual speaker in the tournament, which runs until 3 January, will be honoured with a prize in Mr Dewar's name.

The memorial is part of an effort by students at the University of Glasgow to pay tribute to Mr Dewar, who died in October.

As a law student at the university, he was a leading light in the debating society along with his friend John Smith, the late Labour leader, and Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell.

The organisers had asked Mr Dewar to chair the final of the championship although he had been unable to due to other commitments.

Claymore sword

"He was a very modest man," said debates convener Kate Bullions.

"We are trying to do things in keeping with the way he was."

The competition has been dominated by Glasgow University, whose debaters have lifted the prize five times.

Mr Dewar studied law

They are not taking part this year but will present the team prize in suitably Scottish style - with a gleaming silver claymore sword as the trophy.

"The best speaker will be presented with the Donald Dewar prize by the Chancellor of the university," said Miss Bullions.

"They are usually one of the team of two which wins.

"It is a very prestigious prize, as it shows you are at the top of debating."

Memorial debate

The university is also set to commemorate the anniversary of Mr Dewar's death with a debate named in his honour.

Currently it holds a John Smith memorial debate each year, and it is now likely to alternate the two fixtures, with the first Donald Dewar memorial in October 2001, a year after his death.

Mr Dewar had been due to unveil a bust of his late friend just days after his sudden death, which had been commissioned by a trust set up in Mr Smith's memory.

The students plan to ask Menzies Campbell, a friend of both men, to carry out the ceremony at the university's student union.

Part of the library in the union is likely to be named after Mr Dewar, whose love of books was legendary.

The first minister suffered a brain haemorrhage after falling outside his official residence in Edinburgh.

He had undergone heart surgery earlier in the year.