TECH-TANIC
Budget’s cars focus is arranging deckchairs’
PHILIP Hammond’s Budget will promise a shot in the arm for hightech industries and aim to put driverless cars on our roads by 2021.
The Chancellor will act on projections that suggest the driverless car industry will be worth £28billion to the UK economy by 2035 and support some 27,000 jobs.
He will also use Wednesday’s speech to pledge an extra £400million for electric car charging points across the road network.
The hi-tech budget will also contain a raft of measures designed to create jobs and grow businesses through new technologies. Mr Hammond is expected to give £75million for artificial intelligence projects, plus £100million for 8,000 computer science teachers.
But one leading backbencher said the Chancellor’s hands are tied and his plans are unlikely to be far-reaching.
The source said: “There’s going to be a lot of noise around it but it’s really re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.
“His hands are tied. Put simply: there is not a lot of money around.
“The hi-tech stuff is very interesting and of course it’s a step in the right direction but it’s not addressing the big issues.” Meanwhile, the TUC urged Mr Hammond to raise the minimum wage from its current £7.50 an hour to £10 an hour “as soon as possible”. It also said the Government must scrap the one per cent wage cap for public service workers and provide extra funding for better pay. TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady s aid: “Millions of low-paid working families are living in poverty. It’s a scandal.”