Theresa May signals she will oversee sharp change in direction when she becomes Prime Minister

The Home Secretary outlined a number of key policies in a speech ahead of her imminent move into Downing Street, but said that “Brexit means Brexit”.

REUTERS

Theresa May outlined a host of policies today

She promised “a different kind of Conservatism”, designed to create “a country that works not for a privileged few but for every one of us” at her campaign launch this morning.

But by this afternoon she knew she would be enacting her vision for a society that “works for everyone” after Andrea Leadsom, her only remaining rival to replace David Cameron, pulled out.

Positioning herself firmly in the Tories’ One Nation tradition, she said she wanted to help “rich and poor, north and south, urban and rural, young and old, male and female, black and white, sick and healthy, public sector, private sector, those with skills and those without”.

Mrs May – who was a low-profile supporter of Remain in the recent EU referendum campaign – sought to reassure Eurosceptics that there will be no going back on the vote for Brexit.

There will be “no attempts to remain inside the EU, no attempts to rejoin it by the back door and no second referendum”, she said.

And adding: “Brexit means Brexit and we’re going to make a success of it.”

PA

The Home Secretary confirmed however that “Brexit means Brexit”

But there was a great deal to unsettle traditional Conservative supporters in the remainder of her speech.

In a radical package of reforms to get tough on “irresponsible” business behaviour, the PM-in-waiting set out plans for:

• - Worker and consumer representation in the boardroom
• - Binding shareholder votes on top corporate salaries
• - Changes to the bonus system to require the disclosure of targets and to ensure bonus - - payouts are aligned with the long-term interests of the company
• - Publication of “pay multiple” data showing the ratio between the salaries of top bosses and workers
• - Tougher competition law to stop abuses by utility companies and banks
• - A “proper industrial policy” allowing the Government to block damaging takeover bids for British companies
• - A crackdown on individual and corporate tax avoidance and evasion – naming Amazon, - Google and Starbucks as companies who have a “responsibility to pay your taxes”
• -New Treasury backing for investment in major infrastructure projects, as well as more house-building, action to reduce energy prices and “an industrial strategy to get the whole economy firing”