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Such outspokenness will not be welcomed in Downing Street and nor will what Hain has to say on Iraq: “Just as George Bush has taken note of the new mood in America, it’s important that we do. When the people speak, you take note. It’s clear President Bush has been doing that; it’s important that we do so as well.”

What does he mean? “Everyone accepts that big mistakes were made, especially by the Americans, in what happened after Saddam Hussein was deposed. That’s why it’s a good moment to note that the people have spoken and reflect on that and move forward with more popular support.”

Note: the official government line is that our strategy will not change “just” because of domestic politics in the United States. Hain is seriously sticking his neck out here.

Born in Kenya, the eldest son of an architect, Hain moved to Britain with his family when he was 16. In South Africa his parents, Walter and Adelaine, were ferocious anti-apartheid campaigners, becoming the first married couple to be banned from working because of their political activities under the regime. They served brief prison sentences before fleeing to Britain. Their son inherited their political passion and became one of the most troublesome teenagers in Britain, organising a series of political demonstrations and protests which frequently landed him in court.

He infuriated Middle England by disrupting South Africa’s cricket and rugby tours and was forced to stand trial for 10 days in a bizarre case in which he was accused of robbing a bank. He was acquitted and believes that the South African regime had tried to frame him.

Today there is little hint of the old firebrand — although a trace of the South African accent remains. He has clearly mellowed — making fond small talk about his grandchild — and looks as if he shops in Marks & Spencer. For a cabinet minister he speaks unusually slowly and does not insult the listener with robotic government lines; he is also a lot less orange in the flesh than all the jokes about sunbeds and permatans suggest.

His radical past is not totally forgotten, though, particularly when it comes to City fat cats.

“Most people find it pretty grotesque that a couple of dozen City executives can share a billion pounds of bonuses between them. That’s not where hardworking families and people are at,” he says.

“People find it equally offensive that there are company bosses who earn three times their staff’s wage. I mean, what do they do with the money? What do the City executives actually spend these bonuses on?

“It is a sign of a society whose moral compass has been lost. So I think we need a debate about this and a genuine dialogue with the City: with, as it were, senior business executives, so that we can restore a sense of corporate responsibility.”

What’s to be done? Does he want to introduce a maximum wage as well as a minimum one? “I wouldn’t go into the mechanics because it’s complex,” he muses. “I’m not in favour of punitive taxes. You’ve got to be very careful about this. But the gap between the people at the top and people on low incomes is just indefensible. If we don’t get a sense of corporate responsibility, then we need to think what we can do. It is too early to say what kind of regulation it would be.”

It’s not the first time he has attacked fat cats — but it’s the first time a cabinet member has talked about “regulation” in relation to bonuses. Could it be a reaction to the sleazy connotations of the cash for honours inquiry — from which Hain, like so many of his colleagues, received a letter last week. “Loads of people seem to have been contacted. I am one of the long list of Tory and Labour figures that seem to be of interest to the inquiry,” he shrugs. “I’m relaxed about it.”

Unsurprisingly, it’s not a subject that he wants to dwell on. He is much more forthcoming on the subject of Brown, although he appears to acknowledge that Brown has something of an image problem with the electorate — a main source of anxiety among Labour MPs.

“Because he has been the chancellor for such a long time, the public image is of Mr Prudent. People like that in a chancellor. But if you know him personally, you know him as a very warm man with an extremely wide range of interests, from football and rugby to the minutiae of international finance. When he is running the country you will see a very different Gordon Brown. Instead of Mr Prudent, I think you will see him for the much more rounded person that I know him to be.”

Then again, he has got to be nice about Mr Prudent: he wants to be his right-hand man.