Prime Minister May: will there be an economic stimulus or a Heathrow third runway?

The next Prime Minister will make spending cuts before tax rises but strive to improve life for the working poor, Theresa May said in a speech.

May, whose early Parliamentary career saw her shadow the Department for Transport and Local Government, debuted in that role 15 years ago to attack what she saw as the Labour Government's threatening of planned investment in the rail network by "pulling the plug" on Railtrack. One of her first written questions in that role was about night flights at Heathrow, and to interrogate the economic case for them.

There has been commentary that the Maidenhead MP may be minded to spike a third runway at Heathrow, but also that she may wish to demonstrate she can put the needs of the country over those of her constituency - and she reportedly has refused to take sides. She said in her speech yesterday that the U.K would remain an "outward-looking and globally-minded and big-thinking country we have always been".

May's announcement that the Government will not now seek a budget surplus by 2019 was tempered by a suggestion that if economic conditions dictate, spending cuts will have to be made rather than tax rises. There had been speculation that she would seek an economic stimulus given the turbulence following the vote to leave the European Union. But there were also calls to scrap big projects such as HS2.

May said in her campaign speech before her rival withdrew that she wanted a bigger focus on productivity, to include more Treasury-backed bonds for infrastructure, and regional policy to "not only focus or one or two of our great cities, but all of them". She said there would be an autumn statement "in the normal way".