Declassified files from 2004 show another side to the diplomat tipped to join Nigel Farage’s Reform UK
Brexit negotiator David Frost. Photo: PA
At the height of post-Brexit hostilities between London and Dublin, Boris Johnson’s pugnacious “point man” was David Frost. The UK’s chief negotiator was an unconventional figure who embraced unpopularity at home and abroad, revelled in brinkmanship and was willing to use chaos theory to — he hoped — give Britain an advantage by adopting hitherto unthinkable stances, such as threatening to break international law.
But among thousands of pages of newly declassified Downing Street files opened at the National Archives in Kew are several that make all of this seem extraordinary. In them, Frost sets out the importance of carefully nurturing strategic partnerships with Dublin and Brussels.