Call to rethink Rhodri Morgan's 'clear red water' between Welsh and UK Labour

One of the three Assembly Members set to contest the Welsh Labour leadership has called for a rethink of what has been the signature policy of the party in Wales for 16 years. Eluned Morgan said that thanks to Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the UK party, there's now less need for Wales to go its own way -the "clear red water" strategy set out by Rhodri Morgan in a speech in 2002.

Although Rhodri Morgan admitted in his memoirs that he forgot to utter those words when he delivered that speech in Swansea, they encapsulated his belief that his Welsh Government should be more distinctly socialist than the UK Government headed by Tony Blair. Now Eluned Morgan has said that the red water can ebb, as well as flow, although she's careful to say that Welsh Labour has been "correct" to take its own approach in crucial policy areas like health and education.

The Mid & West Wales AM suggested that where distinct Welsh policies are needed in future, they're likely to be designed to broaden Labour's appeal.

All Labour AMs have now indicated which candidate they intend to nominate. Eluned Morgan will be contesting the leadership with two other candidates, the Health Secretary Vaughan Gething and the Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford. It was as a special advisor to Rhodri Morgan that Mr Drakeford played a major part in developing the "clear red water" strategy.