Rhodri was my friend, he was my leader when he was first Minister and he was also my constituent; we shared a great enthusiasm for the beautiful Vale of Glamorgan. And Rhodri always found time to campaign with me, but he also loved his local walks, swimming in the sea with Julie at Whitmore bay, and one memory from a friend this week of Rhodri spending time with her two young boys on Bendricks beach in Barry, entertaining them on the subject of dinosaur footprints—[Laughter.]—but most recently, enjoying the produce from his garden—Carwyn’s already mentioned it—a very special Spanish omelette made with the eggs from his latest batch of chickens bought at Riverside market. I also remembering visiting Dinas Powys Primary School on Fairtrade day and meeting Jaidem, Rhodri and Julie’s grandson. Now, Jaidem is a member of the school’s eco committee, and he was holding up this huge Fairtrade banana with his friends for the photos—very knowledgeable, of course, on Fairtrade issues.

So, knowing Rhodri and Julie as close friends, with shared political commitments, does take me back a long time—it takes me back to the early 1980s when I visited him when he was head of the European office in Wales, and I was asking him for help with European funding for the South Glamorgan Women’s Workshop. Well, he set to work straightaway, secured the funding and that workshop opened in 1984, with a crèche, training women in IT skills and electronics—widely questioned at the time for being women-only. But, of course, Rhodri backed us all the way and 35 years later, thousands of women and children have benefited from that workshop. Always a champion for women’s rights; thank you, Rhodri.

We worked together on the ‘Yes for Wales’ campaign, which took us both into the Assembly and into Government as ministerial colleagues. Within a year, he was First Minister for nearly a decade. Much has been made and said of Rhodri’s capacity to absorb detail, but it’s also very important to remember that he was always looking to the long term, to the big policy ideas that could move Wales forward.

So, when I was health and social services Minister, he made it clear that he was as concerned with social services as he was with health, and with public health as much as the NHS. He ensured that we got the legislation to appoint the first Children’s Commissioner for Wales in 2001. Looked-after children in Voices from Care knew he was listening as he responded to the Waterhouse report.

Of course, those were tough times in our early days, as has been said: £1.9 billion health budget compared with over £7 billion now. But, we didn’t do PFI, we brought in free prescriptions and Rhodri opened our prestigious Swansea graduate medical school—and how proud he was to be chancellor of Swansea University. He was passionate about our health service, supporting primary care, but also championing those outstanding scientists who put Wales at the forefront of medical research. The impact of his decision to appoint the chief scientific advisers for Wales has been so significant.

Again, his contribution to education has been distinctive, backing the foundation phase, recognising the importance of investing in the early years, bringing higher education to the Valleys, and launching the transformational twenty-first century school building programme.

Today, the horrific terror attack in Manchester is at the forefront of our thoughts, and we must remember Rhodri’s swift response, as First Minister, to 9/11 and 7/7, bringing together all the faith leaders in a forum to establish new relationships, which endure through thick and thin to this day. Julie and I attended a deeply moving gathering on Sunday at the Hindu community centre, with contributions from ethnic minority organisations and faith leaders—many are here today. The message was that Rhodri had reached out, he’d listened and he took action. Much has been said about Rhodri’s capacity and ability to relate to people every day, everywhere he went in Wales, but he was also a man who looked out to the wider world. Wales for Africa is a shining example of that, as we’ll see on Africa Day, celebrated in the Senedd this Thursday.

So, Rhodri Morgan was a truly exceptional man who has made an indelible mark on Wales. He was a uniquely gifted politician with the greatest integrity and compassion. I’ve been so fortunate to know and work with him, as a truly inspiring leader who defined the meaning and importance of devolution for Wales, whilst crafting a distinctive identity for Welsh Labour. Now, we must learn together from his life, his legacy as a great and enduring friend to Wales. Diolch, Rhodri.