WHEN Theresa May became prime minister, she signalled an intention to back away from austerity. In that spirit, new Chancellor Philip Hammond announced extra cash for infrastructure in his Autumn Statement, the centrepiece being £1.3 billion for new and “improved” roads.

Naturally with the Conservatives, all is not as it seems. The government isn’t really ditching austerity and the extra roads cash comes on top of huge amounts set aside by George Osborne. While there was supposedly “no money left” — to the point that it had to be taken from the pockets (and often the mouths) of disabled people, civil servants, firefighters, health workers, children… just about everyone — Osborne somehow found enough underneath the sofa cushions for a £15bn roads programme (announced first in June 2013 and reannounced, er, twice in late 2014).

How much exactly has been budgeted for capital spending on roads isn’t clear, but Transport Secretary Chris Grayling recently said that Hammond’s extra roads cash “is over and above the £23bn” already being spent on roads — I’d be amazed if anyone knows the true total.