THERESA MAY has missed a golden opportunity to prevent the British public from being ripped off.

At the end of July, she took everyone by surprise by postponing her decision on the proposed new Hinkley Point nuclear plant until early autumn. Here was a chance for the new PM to wrest back control of a project that’s been dogged by controversy.

Firstly, there was the issue of foreign ownership.

A key reason why people voted for Brexit was to “take back control” of the country, yet the Hinkley project proposed placing a huge chunk of our energy system in the hands of France and China, who would build, fund and run the scheme.

Then there is value for money. To secure the massive £18 billion investment, David Cameron agreed to a subsidy deal which effectively locks us into paying twice the current wholesale electricity price for the next 35 years. The National Audit Office reckons consumers will end up paying £30bn in subsidies to energy firm EDF – five times the original estimate.

The nuclear technology is also untested, which has led to concerns about safety.

Following a review, Mrs May has given Hinkley the go-ahead with what she claimed were “significant new safeguards” to make sure Chinese involvement does not threaten national security – but she has failed to tackle most of the key issues. She agreed to keep a guaranteed price of £92.50 to EDF for every megawatt hour of electricity generated, despite concerns that is far higher than the market rate, and there have been no changes to the original price tag. When it’s completed, the £18m plant will be the most expensive object on the planet.

While the Government’s austerity policy continues to see vital services cut for the most vulnerable, Mrs May is carrying on the Tories woeful record of splurging public money on expensive vanity projects.