Ahead of a landmark speech today, Rachel Reeves has been signalling she is ready to be ruthless to grow the economy. She has spoken about cutting regulation, pushing through building projects and even finally seeing a new runway at Heathrow. All surprising measures from a government that championed their green agenda while in opposition.

Heather Stewart, the Guardian’s economics editor, looks back at a difficult few weeks for the chancellor, and explains why despite the criticism she is trying to strike a more upbeat note. She points out how Reeves has even signalled that she wants to press for less regulation for the city, and said that regulators across the board also need to focus on contributing to growth.

But with growth so low for years, can she manage to clear the way for more investment in the UK? Helen Pidd asks whether the raft of new measures and announcements are scattergun or add up to a coherent strategy – and what the environmental cost of all this could be.