The Three Old Hacks, aka prolific author and former BBC Sports editor Mihir Bose, Economics editor of the Sunday Times David Smith and political analyst Nigel Dudley give their analysis of Keir Starmer’s first few days in Government.

“The whole focus is on quiet competence, no flashiness.”

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing threeoldhacks@outlook.com, we’d love to hear from you!

The Three Old Hacks, aka prolific author and former BBC Sports editor Mihir Bose, Economics editor of the Sunday Times David Smith and political analyst Nigel Dudley, can scarcely remember a more boring election campaign.

“Boring, but important” says David Smith, as all three agree that Thursday’s election will bring significant change to our country.

Veterans of many campaigns as journalists – “Much more fun in the days without mobile phones” says Nigel, hear what they have to say on the Three Old Hacks podcast on The Chiswick Calendar website and all the usual podcast platforms.

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing threeoldhacks@outlook.com, we’d love to hear from you!

The past week has seen things go from bad to worse for Rishi Sunak, being called out for lying in the debate against Keir Starmer on the claim that Labour would increase taxes by £2,000 per household, then being accused of a lack of respect for coming home early from the D-Day celebrations, for which he has apologised.

He cancelled media interviews at the weekend as support for the Conservatives dipped even further in the polls, with a clear 22% gap between Labour and the Tories, and Reform picking up support after the announcement from Nigel Farage that he would after all be standing as its leader.

Also this week we hear from pollsters Techne UK that Britain is heading for the lowest general election turnout in modern history, reflecting mass apathy, particularly amongst young people, fed by a general mistrust of politicians.

David Smith, Economics Editor of the Sunday Times for over 30 years, records the Three Old Hacks podcast with fellow journalists Mihir Bose and Nigel Dudley, for The Chiswick Calendar. They have decades of experience and knowledge of election tactics, having been in the thick of reporting it all since the 1980s.

"What makes me quite ... angry about this is that Sunak knows completely it's wrong", says David. "He knows enough about the numbers to know this is not a way you should present any figures of this sort, and yet still says it and denies he’s lying."

In this week's Three Old Hacks podcast, David unpicks the figures and explains exactly why it was wrong for Sunak to have made the claim, and for Penny Mordaunt to have repeated it in the second TV debate. If you used the same misleading methodology on the Conservatives' claims, says David, you would cost their policies at £3,000 per household.

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing threeoldhacks@outlook.com, we’d love to hear from you!

Mihir Bose, former BBC Sports News editor, talks to David Smith, Economics Editor of the Sunday Times, and political commentator Nigel Dudley about his memoir Thank you Mr Crombie - Lessons in Guilt and Gratitude to the British.

Mihir grew up in India, just after Independence, part of a wealthy family with a hierarchy of servants, where as a child he was treated like a little prince. Had he stayed there and taken over his father's business he might have made millions as the country developed. Instead he came to Britain to pursue his passion for journalism.

He met David and Nigel not long after he settled in London, and having been subjected to the usual 1960s racism - violence from National Front skinheads, landladies refusing to rent him a room, he finally found his niche on the Financial Weekly and his tribe, journalists, who did not care about his colour, and they have remained good friends ever since.

In this podcast they talk about how multicultural Britain has changed since those days, the impact of immigration, the legacy of Empire and Mihir's personal journey.

Mihir's Memoir
Mihir is publishing his memoir. From growing up in India to making a name for himself as a journalist in Britain, he recounts how he is ever grateful to Mr Crombie, the official who gave him 'indefinite leave to remain'.

Come and see Mihir talking about his memoir on Wednesday 29 May at George IV pub in Chiswick.

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/qa-with-mihir-bose-author-of-thank-you-mr-crombie-tickets-866160929657

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing threeoldhacks@outlook.com, we’d love to hear from you!

The Three Old Hacks have long memories. Former BBC Sports News editor Mihir Bose, Economics Editor of the Sunday Times David Smith and political analyst Nigel Dudley have been covering the nation's major events for decades and are well placed to compare and contrast the pre-election antics of politicians.

Harold Wilson smoked a pipe in public, in an attempt to appear a 'man of the people', but smoked cigars in private, recalls Nigel. There was that excruciating video of Ed Milliband attempting to eat a bacon sandwich in public, and the video with Tony Blair eating cereal with his kids in his kitchen which put the 'corn' in 'cornflakes. So a prime minister attempting to cosy up to the public by telling us how he loads the dishwasher and turn down the bed ("all a bit clumsy" - David) is nothing new to them.

Other subjects on the agenda in this week's podcast are whether or not we can expect another Budget before the next election and how much the Government can expect to influence our votes with it, the absence of specific promises from Labour and the Princess of Wales - whether the papers were right to go big on the dodgy Mother's Day photograph in the light of what we now know, that she has cancer.

Mihir's Memoir
Mihir is publishing his memoir. From growing up in India to making a name for himself as a journalist in Britain, he recounts how he is ever grateful to Mr Crombie, the official who gave him 'indefinite leave to remain'.

Come and see Mihir talking about his memoir on Wednesday 29 May at George IV pub in Chiswick.

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/qa-with-mihir-bose-author-of-thank-you-mr-crombie-tickets-866160929657

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing threeoldhacks@outlook.com, we’d love to hear from you!

The Three Old Hacks discuss the power of the people. Recorded the day after the chaotic Gaza vote in Parliament, they consider the safety of MPs, the leverage voters have to influence them, the impact of a powerful grassroots movement supported by social media and also the power of TV drama to galvanise public opinion, as evidenced by the TV drama Mr Bates and the Post Office.

They discuss the leadership of the Conservative Party. "It always used to be said that the great success of the Tory party was that the membership didn't really have a say on anything" says Nigel. "Now the membership has a voice through Conservative Home and they have a say in choosing the party leader. That's something you can't put back."

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing threeoldhacks@outlook.com, we’d love to hear from you!

The intrusions into the private lives of celebrities rehashed by the phone hacking case brought by Prince Harry against Mirror Group Newspapers represent a "dreadful low" in the history of British journalism, says Mihir Bose.

The High Court ruled that Harry was a victim of phone hacking on multiple occasions, as were his friends. Former BBC Sports News editor Mihir discusses the "cheap and tawdry" tactics of their fellow hacks with Economics Editor of the Sunday Times David Smith and political analyst Nigel Dudley in this week's Three Old Hacks podcast.

Thank you to Bill Kay for writing in and you can view his full letter here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Bill-Kay-Letter-1.pdf

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing threeoldhacks@outlook.com, we’d love to hear from you!

The Culture and Media Secretary Lucy Frazer has intervened to scrutinise the sale of the Daily Telegraph to a company backed by the Abu Dhabi ruling family, over concerns around public interest.

Would they interfere with the editorial in pursuance of their interests? It wouldn't be the first time a newspaper owner had tried it, with more or less success. The Three Old Hacks, aka Sunday Times Economics editor David Smith, political analyst Nigel Dudley and former BBC Sports News editor Mihir Bose, compare notes on interfering owners with whom they have worked over their long careers.

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing threeoldhacks@outlook.com, we’d love to hear from you!