Iceland's executive chairman has entered the renewed dispute over the Falkland Islands, pledging to open a supermarket in the British overseas territory.

Lord Richard Walker announced the plan in a post on LinkedIn: “We've been supporting the Great British high street for 50 years.

“As we continue our international expansion programme, we are committed to opening a shop on the Falkland Islands – taking our iconic British frozen quality and value to the Falklanders. Watch this space.”

The row over the territory's ownership was reignited on Friday by Argentinian President Javier Milei, who declared that “we need to recover” the islands.

In a televised address, Milei said: “The Falklands are Argentinian. Historically and legally. There can be no argument. They are part of the Argentine territory.

“The islanders on their usurped territory do not have a legitimate right to self-determination and any argument on any such self-determination is invalid.”

The sovereignty dispute has deep roots: Argentina has long claimed the islands, which it calls the Malvinas, and the two countries fought a ten-week war over the territory in 1982 after Argentine forces invaded. In a 2013 referendum, islanders voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory, a result Argentina dismissed.

Senior UK government ministers pushed back against Milei's claims, restating their support for the islanders' right to self-determination.

“The Islands are British and will remain so because that is the overwhelming position of the islanders,” foreign secretary Ed Miliband wrote. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting described Britain's commitment to the territory as “absolute and unshakeable”.

Iceland eyes new customers

If the plan goes ahead, Iceland would become the first British grocer to establish a store on the Falkland Islands, home to a population of roughly 3,600 people.

The territory currently has no big-name retailers of its own, although Iceland and Waitrose products are already stocked at the West Store, a supermarket in Stanley, the Falklands' capital. That existing presence reflects the islands' reliance on imported goods, which must be shipped roughly 8,000 miles from Britain — a logistics reality that shapes both the cost and range of groceries available to islanders, and that any frozen-food retailer would have to work around.

Local traditional cuisine includes grilled sea trout, either blackened in cajun spices or wrapped in ham. Fresh fish is not among Iceland's specialities, but the retailer does sell 28 fish fingers for £3. Indeed, the “fresh fish” section of Iceland's website lists a single product: 16 crab-style sticks, priced at £1.85.

Walker has made a series of high-profile political interventions in recent months. He previously served as a cost-of-living adviser to then-Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, but stepped down from the role shortly after Andy Burnham entered Downing Street.

He has urged the government to impose a profit cap on energy firms, cut the taxes facing businesses, and scrap the triple lock on the state pension.

Speaking in the House of Lords earlier this week, he called on the Prime Minister to encourage more young people to move off benefits and into work. “Britain cannot redistribute its way to prosperity,” he said.

No opening date or location for the proposed Falklands store has been announced, and Iceland has not detailed how the shop would be supplied.