Rishi Sunak placed on spot over claims he froze out Iceland boss in foodbank row

Rishi Sunak has insisted he is “sad” about rising foodbank use after the boss at Iceland claimed the PM berated him for speaking out.

Richard Walker, boss at the supermarket chain, said Mr Sunak told him that raising the plight of struggling families was “not helpful”. Mr Walker, who has switched his support to Labour, also alleged he was barred from standing as a Tory candidate after upsetting senior figures in the party by speaking out.

Asked about remarks by the retail boss, the PM did not deny the comments. He said: “What I’ve always said is whilst it’s obviously sad for people to need to rely on foodbanks, I want to make sure that over time, they don’t need to use them.”

And he went on: “I’m very grateful to all the people that volunteer at them and and support them with donations, and that’s something that I see in my own constituency and across the country.” He said: “Inequality has come down, the number of people and poverty has come down. But of course, there’s more work to do.”

In an interview with The Mirror Mr Walker claimed he was given a roasting by Mr Sunak for speaking out about soaring foodbank use. The retail chief said the then-Chancellor was angry at having to “face questions” on the scandal.

Mr Walker, who quit the Tories last year, said of the March 2022 meeting with Mr Sunak: “At the end [of the meeting] he said, ‘There is one other thing. When you said you wanted to be a Tory candidate, I was shocked, because I just thought you were some Leftie, because your comments about foodbanks on the day of my spring statement were not helpful because I was having to answer questions in parliament about it.’ I thought I had gone in for a pat on the head, and I was getting a bit of a b******ing.”

He went on: “He was clearly quite p***ed off. It really wound him up.”

Mr Walker speaks passionately about a range of social issues from the environment and climate change to the cost-of-living crisis, but he said he was warned by the Tories to “just wind it in a bit”. It came after his bid to be selected as an MP was blocked by the party. Mr Walker believes it was because of his “media profile”.

He claims he was told: “Some of the things you are saying are grating and not currying favour with the right people in the party.” He added: “From talking out about the issues I really cared about, I clearly p***ed off some people at the centre of power.”