Brexit negotiator David Frost may not be scared to walk away without a deal, but we are

Editorial: There are few spectacles more pathetic than talking tough when the stakes with which you gamble are other people’s life chances instead of your own

(Brian Adcock/The Independent)

David Frost, now Lord Frost, the government’s chief Brexit negotiator and new national security adviser does not give many interviews. That he has chosen to speak to The Mail on Sunday, as he did last week, intimates that both he and the prime minister he serves wish to make their position absolutely clear to the British people.

Lord Frost reiterates that he is “not scared” to walk away with no deal. Theresa May spent several years saying the same, but turned out not to mean it. This government, on the other hand, really does mean it. Or so they say.

We are well used to the macho posturing of this government, and naturally there are few spectacles more pathetic than talking tough when the stakes with which you gamble are other people’s life chances instead of your own, but they do appear to mean it.