In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, IEA Head of Media Reem Ibrahim interviews Lord David Frost, the incoming Director General and Ralph Harris Fellow at the IEA. The conversation covers Lord Frost’s unusual political journey from Labour Party member to free marketeer, shaped by his experiences as a civil servant in Brussels during the 1990s. He discusses how witnessing the EU’s centralisation drive and the genesis of the single currency revealed the problems of politics overwhelming rational economics.
Lord Frost explains his transition from the civil service to political life, culminating in his role negotiating Brexit and his subsequent elevation to the House of Lords. He reflects on the failures of the Brexit process, particularly the gutting of regulatory reform opportunities and the retention of EU laws that should have been scrapped. The discussion examines why Brexit hasn’t delivered the economic benefits promised, with Lord Frost identifying government dysfunction, excessive taxation, and regulatory burdens as key barriers rather than Brexit itself.
The interview concludes with Lord Frost’s vision for the IEA and the free market movement. He argues that Britain needs fundamental solutions to its dysfunction in housing, energy, public services, and welfare. Lord Frost advocates for preparing the intellectual groundwork through serious research that explains how markets work better, similar to what the IEA achieved in the 1970s. He believes the movement must focus less on short-term tactical wins and more on winning the long-term war of ideas, making free market solutions the obvious answer when Britain reaches its crisis point.
