2026: David Frost criticises Labour for believing the 'propaganda' that Brexit has shrunk GDP 4-8% 2015: David Frost says being in the EU has raised GDP 5-8% My view: David Frost is a striking example of ideology being put ahead of reality—and of how that can pay off in politics. His hard-Brexit stance helped propel him into the role of chief Brexit negotiator and, ultimately, a seat in the House of Lords. In 2015, Frost argued that EU membership had lifted UK GDP by “five, six, seven, eight per cent” through the single market. Now he dismisses as “propaganda” the claim that Brexit has cost the UK 4–8% of GDP. The estimates aren’t identical: one concerns the benefit of single-market membership, the other the cost of leaving. But the contradiction is hard to miss. Frost once used a large GDP estimate to make the case for the EU; now, when estimates point to Brexit’s economic damage, he waves them away as propaganda. That isn’t a serious engagement with the evidence. It’s an ideological position being defended at any cost. And Frost is hardly alone. Too many politicians and public figures have chosen the career advantage of repeating a convenient line over the harder duty of telling the truth about what is best for the country. When people are rewarded for helping to damage the nation they serve, that is a profound failure of democratic accountability.