10:05am UK, Tuesday February 26, 2008

Sky News political staff

The latest list of guests on Sky News' Sunday Live show with political editor Adam Boulton started with the former Home Secretary David Blunkett MP.

sir richard branson at casino royale premiere

Virgin boss Richard Branson

He said it was time for a "real debate" about a national DNA database following the convictions of Steve Wright, the Suffolk serial killer, and Mark Dixie, the murderer of Sally Anne Bowman.

They were both caught after police took samples of their DNA for minor and unrelated crimes.

Mr Blunkett said it would be years until people stopped thinking of DNA records as a threat, but that people should be encouraged to submit the information voluntarily.

"I don't think the Government could possibly go snap and just say well let's move from those who have committed a crime or been arrested to the whole population," he said.

Next up on the show was former Communards band-member-turned-London-vicar, Richard Coles, whoreviewed the Sunday papers with the shadow Welsh secretary Cheryl Gillan MP.

Virgin tycoon Richard Branson also came on the show - he talked about his airline's "historic" first step towards using biofuels on commercial flights.

The Virgin Atlantic 747 took off en route from London Heathrow to Amsterdam using a 20% biofuel mix of coconut and babassu oil in one of its four main fuel tanks.

Just a week ago, however, Mr Branson had been favourite to take over the now-nationalised bank Northern Rock.

He told Adam: "We would have saved most of the jobs, which sadly is unlikely to be the case under nationalisation."

And writing a screenplay about a man who wakes up from a stroke completely paralysed apart from being able to blink his left eye was never going to be easy. But the resulting film, The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, has won over not only the critics but also the Academy Award judges.

Boulton talked to the British screenwriter Ronald Harwood, who's already won one Oscar for The Pianist, and asked him about his hopes of winning again at this year's ceremony.

Also on the show were Yorkshire's queen of swing, jazz singer Clare Teal, the author and journalist Tony Parsons, the shadow sports minister Hugh Robertson MP and actor David Hayman - star of ITV's long-running series Trial and Retribution.

Join us every week for Sunday Live 10am to 12pm, only on Sky News channel 501.