The Three Old Hacks discuss the visit of Donald Trump and whether our Prime Minister's apparent fawning over him is the only way to treat someone so vain.

"Flattery pays off with Trump", says David Smith, Economics editor of the Sunday Times. "You don't want to make an enemy of him".

They note that Rupert Murdoch was on the guest list for dinner with the President of the United States, but Nigel Farage wasn't.

"Farage is not as close to Trump as he makes out", says David.

Also on their minds this week - political analyst Nigel Dudley, former sports editor of the BBC Mihir Bose, and economics editor of the Sunday Times David Smith discuss the vulnerability of Keir Starmer's leadership of the Labour Party, Tommy Robinson's march in London and the role of the Office for Budget Responsibility.

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

The Three Old Hacks discuss the negotiations over Ukraine. Did Trump get rolled over by Putin? Would Mrs Thatcher have gone to America in the way the European leaders have? There have been lots of "vacuous generalisations" about what Europe's war aims are, but it is clear what the principal players want, says Nigel Dudley: Trump wants a deal and Putin wants Ukraine.

Political analyst Nigel Dudley, former sports editor of the BBC Mihir Bose, and economics editor of the Sunday Times David Smith discuss world affairs - Ukraine, Gaza, and for light relief they consider whether Britain is still a nation of tea drinkers and why a woman on a train wanted David's Sunday column for her hamster.

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

The Three Old Hacks look at what might lie behind Keir Starmer's announcement that Britain will recognise a Palestinian state, if Israel does not stop the war in Gaza.

They celebrate the Lionesses' victory in the Euros and discuss Donald Trump's extraordinary behaviour during his recent visit to Scotland, where he behaved more like the country's monarch than a visiting dignitary.

And they say goodbye to the satirist Tom Lehrer.

Former Sports editor of BBC News Mihir Bose, political analyst Nigel Dudley and Economics Editor of the Sunday Times David Smith, aka the Three Old Hacks, setting the world to rights.

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

The Three Old Hacks consider the ramifications of the Afghan super-injunction story which has consumed the British media this week and the way it has "seeped into the toxic subject of immigration".

The British have something of a "negligent attitude to those who have helped them", says Mihir Bose, former BBC Sport editor. It is wrong that this has become politicised into an immigration issue when "the Afghan interpreters are the good guys", says David Smith, Economics editor of The Sunday Times. Why did the Labour government keep the super-injunction for a year after they came to power? "They may have wanted not to do anything that might lead to questioning of their patriotism", says political analyst Nigel Dudley.

The Three Old Hacks also look at the Welfare State and consider why it has grown so much. Do we have a "national sense of entitlement", they ask.

And is Donald Trump really going to rebrand soccer in the United States as 'football' with all the potential confusion that entails.

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

The Three Old Hacks considers Israel's war with Iran, the expectation of what 'two-week Trump' will do and how likely it is that Britain will get dragged in.

Former BBC Sports editor Mihir Bose, Economics editor of The Sunday Times David Smith and political analyst Nigel Dudley's collective memories can recall the postwar history of the West's attempts at regime change in the Middle East over several decades.

They also discuss tax, football, and the merits and vagaries of newspaper deliveries.

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

The Three Old Hacks talk political memoirs this week. Were they always as salacious, and as quickly turned round post-administration as they are now?

Barely has the imprint of the politician's backside faded from the leather of the despatch box before somebody is telling all.

Former BBC Sports editor Mihir Bose, Economics editor of The Sunday Times and political analyst Nigel Dudley discuss Sarah Vine's book How Not to be a Political Wife. She and her then husband Michael Gove were close to David and Samantha Cameron before the Brexit referendum ended the friendship, and she says, her marriage.

The Three Old Hacks look back fondly to the days when MI5 put it about that Prime Minister Harold Wilson was a communist in thrall to Russia and everyone thought he was sleeping with his secretary, when in fact it was another woman altogether.

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

The Three Old Hacks discuss immigration this week. Mihir Bose, former Sports editor for the BBC, came here as an immigrant from India in the 1960s, not long after Enoch Powell made his famous 'Rivers of Blood' speech.

Keir Starmer has been accused of evoking a fear of 'otherness' by echoing Powell's words, when he said Britain risked becoming an 'island of strangers'.

David Smith, Economics editor of the Sunday Times, said Brexit had led to a massive increase in immigration, and we were "starting to shoot ourselves in the foot" because immigrants from the EU tended to be young, making little claim on the state, and usually returning home after they had spent a few years here. They did not displace British workers, the British workforce grew at the same rate, whereas now that was no longer the case.

Nigel Dudley, political analyst, said Starmer's use of Powellite phraseology would give comfort and encourage racists. On a lighter note, Nigel also made an appeal for cricket players, as his village cricket ground is working to revive the sport locally. He's looking for players for Lidgate & Ousden Cricket Club and encouraged anyone living within a 20-mile radius of Newmarket or Bury St Edmunds to get in touch via their website: https://lidgateousden.play-cricket.com/home

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

The Three Old Hacks discuss the challenges facing Christian leadership. As the Papal Conclave works its way through multiple rounds of voting to select a new Pope and the Church of England chooses a new Archbishop of Canterbury, they caution against trying to make a fast buck by betting on either.

On the papal contest, political analyst Nigel Dudley offers: "It's invariably an outsider." On the Church of England selection, "I think it could be a woman," says David Smith, Economics editor of the Sunday Times, "because, of the figures in the Church of England, the bishops and the Church of England in the UK, I think some of the most impressive figures are women," although he acknowledges this might not go down to well with the Church worldwide. The circle-squaring task of reconciling the values of the Church in England and the wider Church will be the biggest headache for whoever gets the job.

As a historian of the Indian sub-continent, Mihir Bose is particularly concerned with the heightened tensions in Kashmir after the attacks that left 26 civilians dead last week. "India is threatening to cut the water sharing system they have with Pakistan, an agreement that goes back to the 50s, and Pakistan sees it as an act of war," he says, while Nigel suggests: "If Pakistan is finding itself isolated and in a corner, it may be more likely to threaten nuclear war than at any stage in the past."

Turning to less depressing and apocalyptic matters, the Three Old Hacks go on to discuss the Observer newspaper's transition and future prospects and the significance for multicultural Britain of chicken tikka masala being served at the Oval.

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