Sir Keir Starmer will pledge to buy more attack submarines and put the military on a war footing as part of a major defence review – but without making any new spending promises.
The lack of extra cash meant the prime minister was coming under fire for empty rhetoric even before the blueprint for the future of the armed forces is released on Monday.
Defence Secretary John Healey was forced to clarify that while he has “no doubt” the government will lift the defence budget to 3% of national income by 2034, he does not actually have a solid commitment from the Treasury, and this remains only an “ambition”.
Sky News understands that the recommendations in the Strategic Defence Review, which is expected to spell out the importance of rebuilding national defence and resilience, require investment to rise by at least that amount.
Defence insiders say in reality, given the scale of what they see as the threat posed by hostile states such as Russia, funding should come even faster and be higher.
Donald Trump wants Washington’s NATO allies to spend 5% of GDP on their armed forces, while Mark Rutte, the head of the alliance, is pushing for 3.5% by 2032.
“The real story is that Healey didn’t get the money,” one source said.
A second source said there is a danger of the UK losing its leadership role in NATO if it fails to support any potential new 3.5% GDP spending target.
Unusually, the government released responses from Sir Keir and the defence secretary to the review hours before the country would be given a chance to scrutinise its content.
