What was the biggest political lie of 2016?

2015 may have been the year of David Cameron and the pig, but 2016 was no less packed with porkies.

We were promised all sorts in the UK and across the pond, leading to a shiny new unprecedented era of post-truth politics. As fake news spiralled out of control to the point where even the world's biggest news corporations failed to spot a fib, we lapped up the lies that led to the election of new world leaders. So what was the greatest political fiction of 2016? Here's what our columnists had to say.

GUYLINER: That Brexiters, bigots and bores were a "silent majority" and that we needed to give them a voice. They haven't shut the hell up since the dawn of time.

JAMES BLOODWORTH: That's an easy one: that the NHS would receive a £350m-a-week bonanza as a result of Brexit.

YASMIN ALIBHAI-BROWN: That immigrants take everything, when they keep the economy growing, public services functional and pay into the public purse.

INNA SHEVCHENKO: Among all the political lies of 2016, the biggest was that people need protection by borders and walls. This is a brutal lie– borders and walls do not protect and do not save anyone, but they do divide us more, and give unreasonable privilege to some groups of people over others. This puts many in danger.

JIMMY LEACH: That the opinion polls offered any kind of guidance. Pollsters seemed to not know what they were looking for and both politicians and electorates flew blind into some terrible surprises. However, the clues were always there.

MICHAEL TONER: The biggest and most black-hearted lie of 2016 is the claim by the RMT union that it is motivated only by a concern for passenger safety with its endless campaign of strikes against Southern Rail over who controls train doors. Safety has nothing to do with it. This is so obviously a nakedly political campaign by a bunch of Leftist hard-liners to undermine the Tories. The RMT couldn't give two hoots for the unfortunate commuters whose lives are being made a misery, but who mostly live in Tory constituencies.

JANE MERRICK: That the NHS would get a £350m a week from Brexit – this slogan, not only on the side of the Leave campaign's bus but on leaflets sent to homes, had a huge impact on the outcome of the referendum, but has since been orphaned by pro-Brexit politicians.

DANIEL HANNAN: It would have to be Donald Trump's bizarre assertion that "Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it." It wasn't so much the lie that stung as the credit he was giving to our intelligence. But the biggest lie, this as every year, was surely "Please take your seats. The performance will begin in two minutes".

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL: Brexit and Trump.

LAURA BATES: How sad that there are just too many possible contenders to even answer this question.