Politics Live - Sunday 24 May

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David Cameron's former strategy adviser Steve Hilton says he could run for office in the future - possibly to be London mayor.

Mr Hilton told 5 live's Pienaar's Politics he loved the idea of being able to "make a difference" and "help people live a better life" in a city.

He also said that if he never ran for office he would probably "regret it".

But he said anything would be a long way off, as he was focused on his job in California, running a tech company.

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More from the Sunday papers - government ministers' pay will remain frozen for the next five years, David Cameron has announced

Writing in the Sunday Times , the prime minister said we were "all in this together" when it came to paying off the national debt.

His pledge will save about £800,000 a year and £4m by 2020.

The decision means ministerial pay will not have risen for a decade by the end of parliament. Cabinet ministers currently receive a salary of £134,565.

This includes their pay as MPs. The prime minister is paid a total of £142,500.

Read more

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In case you missed the morning papers, former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott has said he is backing Andy Burnham to be the next leader of the Labour Party.

Writing in the Sunday Mirror Lord Prescott said Mr Burnham had "one thing all leaders crave - the common touch".

He also criticised former leader Ed Miliband for resigning "prematurely" and "before the successor could be elected".

He likened Mr Burnham to that of former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Quote Message: Many people talk about aspiration but Andy is a living example - a working-class lad from Liverpool who went to a ­comprehensive and got a place at Cambridge University. Andy also has that one thing all leaders crave - the common touch. I've seen him in small groups and big meetings. People instantly warm to the guy. He's a family man who loves his football."

Many people talk about aspiration but Andy is a living example - a working-class lad from Liverpool who went to a ­comprehensive and got a place at Cambridge University. Andy also has that one thing all leaders crave - the common touch. I've seen him in small groups and big meetings. People instantly warm to the guy. He's a family man who loves his football."

Pascal Lamy,  one of Europe's most senior politicians, says David Cameron will be met with "understanding" by fellow European leaders as he goes about his renegotiation - they know how hard it is to win an election or a referendum, he tells The World This Weekend.

"He starts this discussion with a credit. He shouldn't overdraw on his credit," Mr Lamy continues. 

The former director general of the World Trade Organization says Mr Cameron's time frame - a referendum before the end of 2017 - isn't compatible with wholesale EU treaty changes, which take an "extremely long time".

What if the UK did leave? "I think it would be bad news. I think it would hit the, sort of, credibility [of the EU]," Mr Lamy says. The rest of the world - China and the US, for example - see the European Union as having brought about "two miracles" - peace between France and Germany, and the UK as part of Europe, and a Brexit would clearly destroy one of them.

Lord Hill says he thinks he can "play a role in helping both sides understand each other" during the EU renegotiation process. "That's best done quietly behind the scenes," he says.

Two things really matter, though, he tells The World This Weekend. "First, the wish, desire, on the part of other countries for Britain to remain part of the EU is very strong.

"Secondly, Europe is very good at finding solutions to problems when it sets its mind to it."

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Lord Hill - a former member of David Cameron's cabinet and now his EU commissioner - has thrown his weight behind the UK remaining inside the EU.

He told The World This Weekend: "The business benefits of our membership, the benefits to Britain for geopolitics and for our diplomacy generally, the benefits to be able to try to deliver meaningful free trade agreements, either with the United States or with China. Those to me all seem like an extraordinarily strong case to stay in.

"I think it's true in politics as in life that you can't have your cake and eat it. You can't have easy access to a single market, you can't be part of free trade negotiations, you can't be part of an effective European diplomacy, without being a full member of it."

Business Secretary Sajid Javid whistled through quite a few topics on The Andrew Marr Show this morning, presenting a challenge to our speedy typing. He ruled out revisiting proposals to make it easier for firms to sack staff using "no fault" dismissals.

The  Beecroft report  on employment law in 2012 suggested small firms be able to dismiss people without a reason, in return for paid compensation.

But the plan, which would have cut unfair dismissal cases, was  blocked in the coalition  by the Lib Dems.  Read more.

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UKIP leader Nigel Farage has given his thoughts on Labour's decision to drop its opposition to an EU referendum.

Quote Message: The Labour Party has been dragged, unwillingly, to accept the inevitable that there will be an in/out EU referendum in the next two years... They grudgingly accept that it is the will of the British people to have a say on their future, but they make it clear that they will campaign for in, whatever the result of Mr Cameron's negotiations."

The Labour Party has been dragged, unwillingly, to accept the inevitable that there will be an in/out EU referendum in the next two years... They grudgingly accept that it is the will of the British people to have a say on their future, but they make it clear that they will campaign for in, whatever the result of Mr Cameron's negotiations."

Mr Farage said Labour "pre-rejecting" any arguments about whether the UK could actually be better off outside the EU, showed "the paucity of vision and ambition they have for this country and its people".

Quote Message: They must allow individual members of the shadow cabinet and the Parliamentary Labour Party to campaign and vote on this great matter freely, unwhipped."

They must allow individual members of the shadow cabinet and the Parliamentary Labour Party to campaign and vote on this great matter freely, unwhipped."

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The Labour leadership paddock is filling up, so in case you've lost track, we've rounded all of the runners and riders up in one place for you. It's important to remember, though, that some will fall at the first hurdle - stretching the metaphor a bit now, we know - because each one needs the backing of 35 of their fellow MPs in order to get their name on the ballot paper.

Earlier, we heard fighting talk from the SNP on the UK's possible withdrawal from the Human Rights Act - something that was in the Conservative manifesto. 

Today's Sunday Telegraph quotes one unnamed minister as saying they "will probably oppose it" and could resign over the issue. "The idea that my constituents should have fewer protections available as a last resort is not something that I can accept," the minister said.

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Business Secretary Sajid Javid talked about tax credits earlier and changing what migrants to the UK could get. This is what he said in full: 

"If you have someone from the EU coming to Britain working full time, with a couple of kids, they would get around £700 a month, that's almost £8,000 a year in tax credits. That's twice as much as Germany, three times more than France would give. So you can see the pull that generates and that's the kind of thing we need to change... It's a very key part of our negotiation."

For background, tax credits are benefits given to supplement the income of people responsible for children, disabled workers and other workers on low salaries. They're tax-free, but means-tested, and eligibility depends on circumstances. For example, a household with one child may be eligible for some tax credits if collective income is less than £26,000 a year before tax. 

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According to the Sun, Green Party leader Natalie Bennett has made it to Parliament despite not being elected as an MP. The paper says she has been appointed as a junior researcher for Green peer Baroness Jenny Jones.

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More on the subject of escalated military intervention against so-called Islamic State. Of course, at present, the UK is involved only in air strikes against the jihadist fighters in Iraq, but former Chief of the General Staff Lord Dannatt has said that needs to change.

For his part, Conservative former defence secretary Liam Fox told Sky News the US would have to be the "prime mover" in any action.

"I think that is out of the question under the Obama presidency. I think even if he were to be persuaded that it was the right thing to do, and I'm not sure at all that he is, then I don't think he would be willing in the last year or so of his presidency to have that as his legacy given that he came to office saying he was going to withdraw America."

Dr Fox continued: "The second part of that is all these countries in the Middle East and beyond who say they don't want American influence in the Middle East are now really changing their tune and saying, 'Ah, it's not working, maybe it's time for America to re-engage.' You know, maybe it's time for the rest of us to start putting our money where our mouth is and having better collective security."

Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union, has given his thoughts on Labour's EU volte-face.

Quote Message: On the EU renegotiations and the referendum Labour must not give Cameron a blank cheque and should beware of the CBI agenda to turn the clock back on employment rights. Labour are sleepwalking into a two-step Europe, with UK workers having the worst rights in the EU for which a big price will later be paid by the party at elections."

On the EU renegotiations and the referendum Labour must not give Cameron a blank cheque and should beware of the CBI agenda to turn the clock back on employment rights. Labour are sleepwalking into a two-step Europe, with UK workers having the worst rights in the EU for which a big price will later be paid by the party at elections."

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Shadow Europe minister Pat McFadden told Sky News a little while ago he "can't see circumstances where Labour would recommend a no vote" to staying in the EU.

"I don't think that the European Union necessarily always works best by always threatening to leave. We've achieved change in the past by working with others, the prime minister is going to have to get some agreement from others to some of the changes that he wants so let's see what he comes up with." 

We're rushing through the political programmes at breakneck speed here, but if you want to know more on Rushanara Ali's deputy Labour leadership bid  or  her party's decision to switch tack on Europe  then your wish is our command.

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"The SNP would be happy and proud to lead the opposition to the repeal of the Human Rights Act in the House of Commons," the party's justice spokesman Joanna Cherry says. She refers to the SNP's "contacts with Tory backbenchers" - "some informal channels" - and says that as a lawyer herself she speaks to other lawyers within the Conservative Party. "From a legal perspective", she adds, withdrawing from the act is "unsupportable". 

She says it's hard to imagine what David Cameron could possibly put in place that would give citizens the same protection as the Human Rights Act.

Quote Message: Ed Miliband is a good man and I was proud to serve in his shadow cabinet... I didn't sit in shadow cabinet thinking, 'I could do a better job.'" from Mary Creagh Labour leadership hopeful

Ed Miliband is a good man and I was proud to serve in his shadow cabinet... I didn't sit in shadow cabinet thinking, 'I could do a better job.'"

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Mary Creagh, one of those Labour leadership hopefuls, has been speaking to Dermot Murnaghan. She was asked whether she supported Ed Miliband's plan for a mansion tax.

"I think that the mansion tax played into the anti-business message we had as a party..." she said. "The mansion tax was a symbolic thing. I think it was almost impossible to administer on a local basis." 

Asked whether she argued against it behind closed doors, she adds: "It was something that was presented quite late on as the way of funding the NHS and it was presented without shadow cabinet discussion."

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Labour's change of heart on Europe brings the party's overall position into line with that already taken by several of the candidates hoping to be its new leader. What'll be interesting to see is whether Labour will actually whip all of its MPs to support continuing EU membership when it actually comes to the crunch. We don't often hear about it, but there is a significant minority in the party that is Eurosceptic 

For now, though, I think this is Labour facing up to reality - for them to be saying, 'No, no, we don't want people to have a say in this' just wouldn't be the best direction to pursue.

A discussion now on the Labour leadership. Dan Hodges, a political commentator, says Labour MPs aren't clear in their own minds about what sort of leader they need. Some think they need a new Blair, someone who can totally change things, he tells Pienaar's Politics, but what they definitely need in terms of a contest is "blood on the floor" - "Labour does need to have a fight." 

Isabel Hardman, from the Spectator, says all the candidates are basically saying the same thing - it would almost be nice if someone said they didn't care about aspiration or business, she jokes. Kieran Stacey, political correspondent for the FT, says it's a bit dangerous for all the candidates to distance themselves from everything Ed Miliband campaigned on. "What you're essentially saying to voters is, 'we were lying to you.'"

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You must be at least a bit relieved to see a Tory majority because it surely makes it easier to push for another independence referendum, Stewart Hosie is asked.

"That's absolutely wrong. We did not want to see a Tory government..." he insists, adding: "Arguments for and against independence will stand on their own two feet."

Stewart Hosie, deputy leader of the SNP, tells John Pienaar that his party has "a stonking mandate" and "a very powerful position" in Westminster. We'll be on every committee, we'll have committee chairmanships, he says, and hints that the Conservatives might see the influence of the SNP if they try to abolish the Human Rights Act.

On the issue of defence spending, Liam Fox says it's one of the few areas of government outlay that is "not discretionary" - ultimately you have to spend what you need to spend to deal with the threats and protect the nation, he argues. Among those threats, Dr Fox cites "an aggressive, expansionist Russia, redrawing the boundaries of Europe by force" and Islamic State. 

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Liam Fox, former defence secretary, is over on Sky News. He's talking about EU renegotiation and insists immigration isn't the number one thing that bothers UK voters. "It's a question of sovereignty," Dr Fox insists, and about where UK laws are made. "It's a question of the direction of travel in Europe. It's moving inexorably towards greater integration." He says the EU is "moving towards statehood... and we need to make it clear to them that is not the destiny we see for the UK".

"We should be radical and imaginative. What have we got to lose?" says Rushanara Ali. Give us a big idea then, says John Pienaar. Ms Ali doesn't really come up with one - but she says she wants to build a bigger movement behind the Labour message, starting with young people.

Who are you backing for leader? "I'm going to meet every single one of them. I will reserve my right to use my nomination powers to help someone struggling in the race get what they need to stand," she says.

And who's backing you? Keith Vaz and Tristram Hunt are two of the names Ms Ali picks out.

Rushanara Ali joins a number of others who have declared their deputy leadership hopes - Stella Creasy, Tom Watson, Ben Bradshaw, Angela Eagle and Caroline Flint.

"I'm going to start with going after UKIP voters who left Labour. We have to talk to people who rejected us," Rushanara Ali says. "We have to listen to them."

But many of those voters have problems with multi-culturalism and Muslim people even, it's put to her.

"I grew up in a working-class community. Some of my neighbours were not very friendly," she replies. "I'm used to rejection so I think I have something to offer... I know what it feels like to be an outsider trying to get in.. I think a lot of our voters feel like that - that they just couldn't get through to us."

Rushanara Ali, Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow. tells John Pienaar she wants to run for the deputy leadership.

"I have a huge amount to offer," she says.

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Is David Cameron a revolutionary? "He's got a radical heart. But he's also got a responsible head," Steve Hilton says.

He also insists that Mr Cameron's cabinet colleagues and the civil service are open to change - "it's the system" that makes the status quo hard to shift.

Mr Hilton hints that a mayoral job might appeal to him in the future too. 

We're switching our attention to Pienaar's Politics now on BBC Radio 5 live. Steve Hilton has popped up there too. David Cameron's former adviser says public services have become so bureaucratic that they've lost all touch with ordinary people.

What will be different now then that the Tories are in government alone, he's asked.

"I think number one is more power moving down to local communities and neighbourhoods," he says. "You've already seen that with George Osborne talking about city mayors." He says the public will start to see the benefits of that sort of devolution. 

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In the post-interview sofa chat, David Cameron's former adviser, Steve Hilton, heaps praise on Harriet Harman for her consistent championing of gender equality. She says she "must really be on my way out if I'm getting praise from a Conservative", but thanks him for his kind remarks.

Steve Hilton won't throw his weight behind any particular Labour leadership candidate, but agrees the party must take time to work out what went wrong. Ms Harman says it will be an incredibly open election process. 

Quote Message: There'll be televised hustings in front of tough studio audiences... Let's see who can actually speak to people's concerns... we don't know yet, let the people be the boss."

There'll be televised hustings in front of tough studio audiences... Let's see who can actually speak to people's concerns... we don't know yet, let the people be the boss."

Now Labour's acting leader is asked about the influence of the unions. "There is absolutely not going to be a stitch-up by the unions in this election," Ms Harman insists firmly. She says the election system for the leader has been completely changed in recent years. The ballots are going to be sent out individually to Labour members and the vote will be secret - both important differences, she adds. 

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Do you agree with Liz Kendall, leadership hopeful, that Labour could be out of power forever if it gets this rebuilding wrong? "I think it would be quite wrong to minimise the scale of our defeat because even though there is no particular love for the Tory party, people still couldn't feel confident in giving us their support," Harriet Harman says.

"I profoundly hope that we must have either the leader or the deputy being a woman. We must have a balanced leadership," says Harriet Harman.

Quote Message: I think if you carry on arguing too long about the process you end up obscuring the very important discussion about the substance."

I think if you carry on arguing too long about the process you end up obscuring the very important discussion about the substance."

Timing is crucial though - it's really important that it's not held at the time of other elections, such as in Scotland, because it's a key issue on its own and needs to be treated as such, she adds.

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"We would be on our own," Ms Harman says, on a UK future outside the EU. But the EU is too centralised, too unaccountable. "It is perfectly possible to want to stay in a situation but to also want it to change," she adds. 

Harriet Harman says Labour wants to see reform in Europe on matters like welfare. But she says the party is sure that the economic benefit of staying in the EU is very real. "We do feel that being involved in the EU has helped this country, and indeed immigration has helped this country, but not everyone has felt the benefits of that," she continues. Pressed on what that means, she refers to the undercutting of wages that some British people have experienced.

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Right, next up, acting Labour leader Harriet Harman. First up, the party's about-face on the subject of an EU referendum. We wouldn't succeed in opposing an EU bill in parliament and there "doesn't seem to be a public appetite for us manning the barricades" to prevent one anyway, she says.

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Yanis Varoufakis, Greek finance minister, is the next guest. He says this is the first time Greece has had a government that is "prepared to negotiate all the way to the wire" over the country's EU debts. 

On the subject of a possible Grexit, he says trying to get out of the euro would be "like announcing a currency devaluation 10 months in advance - it would be a disaster".

"There is a need for boots on the ground, but not British boots," the business secretary says when asked about the suggestion that the West must do more to fight Islamic State.

Sajid Javid has said he's concerned about Ofcom, the broadcast regulator, becoming a censor if it's asked to do more to root out the propagation of extremist messages in the UK - something that's apparently put him at odds with Home Secretary Theresa May. He praises Mrs May and says disagreements within cabinet are "perfectly normal".

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Onto changes to business regulation, Mr Javid says he won't be considering reintroducing no fault dismissals to make it easier to fire people. 

Asked about transport, he says he doesn't know whether expansion at Gatwick or Heathrow is now preferred, but he says the recommendations should be out within a few months and the government will take swift action when they are.

Immigration to this country should always be focused on the people who are going to add the most value, Sajid Javid says. Whether or not they come from the Commonwealth versus, say, a former eastern bloc country, makes no difference, he adds.

You're not likely to make headway on free movement are you, Sajid Javid is asked. "I think the changes that we're talking about, the welfare changes, they will make a difference," the business secretary insists. Someone might now get £700 a month in tax credits, two or three times what they'd get in France or Germany, so you can see why that's a big pull factor, he adds. While not going as far as saying tax credits are a red line for the EU negotiation, he says it is a "very key" issue.

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The first big guest is Business Secretary Sajid Javid. He's being asked about some of the government's desires for change in Europe - we want to change things like rules on immigration and access to in-work benefits - tax credits, housing benefit and the like. That would require a big treaty change though, Andrew Marr says, so what if you don't get that? Will you back an EU exit?

He replies: "I'm confident we're going to get these changes... It's going to require some patience, but I think we'll get there."

The reviewers are now discussing a piece by former Chief of the General Staff Lord Dannatt, in the Mail on Sunday, who says the West must put troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria to fight the so-called Islamic State. "We went through an interventionist phase [in terms of foreign policy] and we're now in a backlash against that," says journalist Catherine Mayer, discussing why there's so much resistance to Lord Dannatt's idea. 

But just because it went wrong before doesn't mean we can't learn those lessons and intervene in this, Steve Hilton adds.

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Now onto the subject of the pay freeze for ministers that David Cameron has announced. Steve Hilton says the UK should be "more flexible" about how it brings talented people into government - not necessarily via the ballot box.

Catherine Mayer links that to a rather negative story about Labour leadership hopeful Liz Kendall, and the label she's apparently been given of the Blair Witch, for her support for former PM Tony. She points out that there are many barriers keeping people, and in particular, women, out of politics, including that sort of negativity.

People want to see "more independent-minded politicians" and not those who just "want to trot out the party line", Steve Hilton adds.

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The Andrew Marr Show is up and running with the paper review and the first topic is the Irish same sex marriage vote. Steve Hilton, former adviser to David Cameron, agrees with Andrew Marr that we're entering into a "referendum era". People want more say, he adds. Journalist Catherine Mayer says it's interesting that all the political parties in Ireland were united on backing a yes vote - unlike in the sort of referenda we've seen and will see in this parliament in the UK.

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There's plenty of politics in the Sunday papers - with the refrendum in Ireland on same sex marriage the subject of many headlines. There's also a fair amount about the positioning ahead of an EU referendum, and the proposal to freeze ministers' pay for the next five years. Catch up with all the details in Andrew McFarlane's full paper review  - which also features these other eye-catching headlines:

• "Chancellor kisses Wizard of Oz" - George Osborne was so sure the Conservatives wouldn't win the election that he promised to French kiss strategist Lynton Crosby if they gained a clear majority, but reneged on the pledge in favour of a peck on the cheek, reports the Sunday Times
• "Churchill's recipe for Allied victory" - a book publishes the recipes of Winston Churchill's personal cook, reports the Sunday Express
• "Town where the pubs will never close" - Otley, West Yorkshire, has listed all its 20 hostelries as "assets of community value", meaning - should they go up for sale - locals have first dibs on bidding, the Sunday Telegraph says
• "Buzz off" - the Mail on Sunday reports the release of a battery-powered tabletop device which shines holographic dots to deter wasps from the picnic bench

Hello and welcome to a bank holiday Sunday Politics Live special - bringing you a round-up of the main newspaper stories, and all the action as it happens on the Andrew Marr Show and Pienaar's Politics.