Today's budget is the last before the General Election in May
Chancellor George Osborne announces an extra £100 million of funding for autonomous cars, with the UK aiming to "stay ahead in the race to driverless technology"
Chancellor George Osborne has announced new funding for autonomous vehicle development as part of his last budget before the General Election this summer.
Opening his statement, the Chancellor said he was happy to “report on a Britain that is growing, creating jobs and paying its way.”
Supporting figures which showed the UK economy grew by 2.6% last year, the fastest-growing in the world, the Chancellor said the British economy is “fundamentally stronger” than it was five years ago.
On the subject of autonomous vehicles, the Chancellor announced an extra £100 million of funding to ensure Britain “stays ahead in the race to driverless technology.”
Safeguarding the continued growth of low-emissions vehicles, the Chancellor also announced that company car tax rates for low-emission vehicles would rise slower than previously planned. Other company car tax rates will rise by 3% in 2019/20.
Fuel duty has again been scrapped, meaning the planned rise in September won't occur. The Chancellor says the move will save the average family £10 on the cost of filling up, and said: "I want to make sure that the falling oil price is passed on at the pumps." The move marks the longest freeze on fuel duty for 20 years.
The Chancellor also announced a raft of new measures to encourage Britain’s growing manufacturing industry, including doubling support for British companies exporting to China. “Britain's manufacturing output has grown more than four-and-a-half times faster than it did in the entire decade before the crisis,” he said.
George Osborne also praised apprenticeship schemes, saying the number of apprentices in Britain has doubled during his time in office, saying: “We are getting the whole of Britain back to work with a truly national recovery”.
Facing Prime Minister’s Questions ahead of the budget, the Prime Minister David Cameron praised Jaguar Land Rover for its continued growth and tripled turnover over the last five years, saying that “manufacturing is growing again in the West Midlands, and we should be proud of that.”
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