The prime minister is still keen on major infrastructure projects, despite the delay over a decision about the Hinkley C nuclear power plant, Tory grandee Lord Heseltine has said.
He told BBC Radio 4's World at One Mrs May "has not been that deeply involved in the detail" until now, as it was outside her remit as home secretary.
"She's fully entitled to ask those basic questions; that is not anti-infrastructure, it is pro-national security," he added.
The former deputy prime minister was speaking as Mrs May chaired the first meeting of a cabinet committee on economic development, which will consider major infrastructure issues.
While Lord Heseltine emphasised her distance from the project in the past, former business secretary Vince Cable has said she had doubts over the scheme when she was home secretary.
China is unhappy with suggestions that its involvement in investing at Hinkley gives it the potential to act in a malevolent fashion and 'switch off' Britain's lights.
