CHANCELLOR Philip Hammond is expected to use his budget on Wednesday to set out plans to test driverless cars.

He is set to announce a series of measures to promote new technologies and artificial intelligence, including plans for on-road testing to put driverless cars on UK roads by 2021.

Hammond is also expected to make £75 million available for support companies using this technology involving artificial intelligence.

There will also be £400 million for electric car charge points and £100 million to boost clean car purchases

However, the SNP said the budget should focus on boosting squeezed incomes, tackling the housing crisis, and cutting youth unemployment.

In a joint letter to Hammond, a group of SNP MPs call on the UK government to address specific problems young people face due to stagnant wages, welfare cuts and increasing housing costs.

The letter is signed by SNP MPs Kirsty Blackman, Mhairi Black, Angela Crawley, Neil Gray, Gavin Newlands, Hannah Bardell, Alison Thewliss David Linden, Patrick Grady and Stewart McDonald.

SNP economy spokesperson Kirsty Blackman said: “Thanks to this Tory government, young people now face being the first generation in modern times to be worse off than their parents – with lower lifetime earnings, cuts to support, skyrocketing housing costs, and an extreme Tory Brexit that is squeezing living standards and robbing young people of opportunities.

“This week the Chancellor must take the long-overdue action needed with a Budget that addresses the specific problems millennials face – including giving young people a real living wage and making housing genuinely affordable."

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford called on Hammond to deliver a budget for "people and prosperity".

He said: "After a decade of Tory cuts, rising poverty and stagnant wages – and now with Brexit uncertainty having a real effect across the economy – it is clear that the failed Tory dogma has had its day.

"With little progress on the UK's negotiations to leave the European Union – coupled with the chaos engulfing Theresa May's cabinet – the Chancellor this week has the opportunity to address some of the running sores which are so damaging to our economy and our society.

“Put bluntly, this Chancellor must bring forward a budget that puts people and prosperity first.”