Hundreds of mourners gathered on Friday at the funeral of prominent trade unionist Bill Speirs.

The former STUC General Secretary, who died last week at the age of 57 after a long illness, was described as a "great oak" of modern politics. First Minister Alex Salmond and his predecessor Jack McConnell were among the senior political figures who turned out to pay tribute.

Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray, former Scottish Socialist Party MSP Tommy Sheridan, MP George Galloway and former Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander all attended the service at a packed Renfrew Town Hall.

Mr Speirs joined the STUC as an assistant secretary in 1979. He became deputy general secretary in 1988 and general secretary 10 years later. The town hall was filled with former colleagues, fellow activists, family members and well wishers.

Mourners, including Mr Sheridan and Ms Alexander, spilled onto the pavement outside the hall in order to pay their respects. Respect MP George Galloway said "a great oak has fallen in the sparser political forest with the passing of Bill Speirs".

He told mourners: "In many distant parts of the world the passing of Bill Speirs is being noticed and mourned. There are people as far away as South Africa and Palestine and indeed many parts of the Arab world, former Yugoslavia, the former USSR, whose lives Bill touched and graced and improved who today are mourning his passing.”

Mr Galloway said he looked on Speirs as an "older, more sophisticated brother". He added: "He was an eagle, a leader. I will never, ever, ever forget Bill Speirs and what he meant in my life, and I suspect I am not alone in that."

Former First Minister Jack McConnell said it was "a real honour" to be able to pay tribute to the trade unionist. "I am proud to have known Bill, and learned from him over the past 30 years," he said. "This past week, friends and colleagues have used a range of words to describe Bill Speirs: intellect, passion, humour, energy, motivated and motivating, internationalist, loyal friend, decent, charismatic.

"But his special contribution was in his belief that ordinary people, mobilised and organised, could effect change. Change for themselves and change in others. He believed that they could make an impact and have an influence on their community, their company or their country. Bill Speirs built bridges between people, not walls to keep people apart.

"He was never ending in his passionate belief that Scotland would be a better more democratic place, a more just society, with a Scottish Parliament in place. Now it is here but he is gone. Scotland lost a special son last week. We all lost a special friend.
"We will miss him and his huge contribution to our national life.

"But we remember today the man, his immense contribution, his fun, his intellect, his style, his inspiration, and his values of decency, compassion and respect."

Mr Speirs's wife, Pat, spoke of "a delightful husband and companion and friend" who was "committed to what he cared about". She said: "Bill cared endlessly for people both individually and collectively. No one of us will ever know all the kindnesses Bill did for people."

His daughter Jaki said her father always had time for his family. "He was also a busy father," she said. "Between trips to South Africa, Bosnia, Palestine and various other nations, he always found time to send us a postcard, to catch up with us and find out what was going on in our lives. He was always incredibly supportive. We are really proud to be able to call him our father."

Socialist anthem The Internationale was sung at the end of the ceremony, while the official Palestinian national anthem Biladi Biladi and anti-war song Beirut, sung by Sheena Wellington, were played.

Watch George Galloway's tribute to Bill Speirs