ICELAND boss Lord Richard Walker has been brought into government by the PM to spearhead a new drive to cut the cost of living.
In a direct appointment from No10 yesterday, the supermarket tycoon was named as the Government’s official Cost of Living Champion.
In the unpaid role, he will work across Whitehall to “challenge” ministers and find new ways to make household budgets stretch further.
Downing Street said he would build closer links with businesses, regulators and charities to explore what more can be done to bring down everyday costs.
He will report directly to Sir Keir Starmer and work closely with the No10 Policy Unit. Ministers said the role would sit alongside existing policy work, bringing in outside experience rather than replacing current programmes.
Lord Walker, who is executive chairman of the frozen food retailer, is known for campaigning on poverty and access to affordable food.
His initiatives have included the Iceland Food Club — an interest-free loan scheme that has helped tens of thousands of families escape food poverty.
He also chairs the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation, which Downing Street said has donated more than £38million to good causes.
No10 said the aim of Lord Walker’s appointment was to leave “no stone unturned” in delivering a fairer deal for consumers.
BT HANG-UP IS SLOWED
BT has slowed the pace of its customer losses to cut-price competitors.
It shed 210,000 broadband customers in the last three months of 2025, but this was fewer than feared in the market.
It cut projected customer losses for its fixed-line Openreach broadband by 55,000 for the full year, down to 850,000.
BT boss Allison Kirkby said the firm is recovering due to a rise in demand for its full-fibre coverage.
It added 571,000 new customers for that in 2025’s last quarter.
But revenues still fell by 4 per cent to £5billion in the same three-month period.
SHELL SLUMPS
SHELL has laid bare the impact of last year’s tumbling oil prices by reporting a 22 per cent plunge in annual profits.
Underlying earnings fell to £13.6billion for 2025 after a 40 per cent drop, quarter-on-quarter, in the final three months of the year.
The FTSE 100 firm also announced another £2.7billion of share buybacks and a dividend hike. But its shares dropped by more than two per cent in morning trading yesterday.
BIT OF A LOSS
BITCOIN’S slide deepened yesterday, erasing all the gains made since Donald Trump’s election win more than a year ago.
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency fell to £50,261 — 40 per cent lower than its record peak of more than £90,090 last October.
Its latest drop follows comments from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said the federal government cannot instruct banks to “bail out” crypto markets.
