LABOUR plans to increase military spending will lead to job cuts and worsen Britain’s economic woes, analysis of official figures suggests.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to unveil his government’s long-delayed £14.5 billion Defence Investment Plan (Dip) tomorrow.

His government has claimed that the increased spending will boost British business and jobs.

But new analysis by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) warns this will come at the cost of more productive parts of the economy.

CND general secretary Sophie Bolt said: “The government tries to justify forcing through its ‘war-readiness’ programme, by arguing that increasing military spending will create lots of new jobs and kick-start the economy. 

“But the government’s own data shows this is false. 

“On the contrary, diverting investment away from critical public services that are also jobs-rich will reduce jobs and worsen the economic crisis.”

Analysis of Ministry of Defence (MoD) procurement estimates and Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that while 9.4 new jobs are expected for every £1 million spent on the military, this is far less than should the money be spent on other public services.

Investing the same amount in libraries, museums and cultural activities would produce an estimated 25.5 jobs — nearly three times as much.

Spending on care and social work would create 19.8 jobs, education 14.9, healthcare 13.4 and railways 12.2.

The MoD revealed yesterday that the Dip will scrap plans for a new destroyer for prioritising drones and modernising the military.

Former defence secretary John Healey quit after Chancellor Rachel Reeves refused to divert public funding from other departments to plug a massive rise in the plans’ costs over the past year.

PM-in-waiting Andy Burnham is understood to have signed off on the Dip ahead of taking over from Sir Keir as early as July 20.

Ms Bolt added: “Any new prime minister that continues with this disaster, will quickly become as unpopular as Starmer. It’s time to end the war drive and invest in saving lives not destroying them.”

A spokeswoman for Stop the War Coalition said: “This report demonstrates the real link between military spending and employment — that arms spending generates fewer jobs per pound invested than healthcare, education, housing, transport and public services.

“So it actually kills jobs as well as people. 

“Which is why, at last week’s incredible international conference against war, some 3,000 trade union and anti-war activists from across Europe and beyond agreed it cannot just be talk, we have to move to action.

“And one of those agreed actions is an international day of action in November against rearmament and conscription.”

The Dip was originally due last year, but has been held back amid wrangling within government over the amount of money required to finance the military, which prompted Mr Healey to quit in protest.

His successor Dan Jarvis is understood to have secured some extra money for the plan, taking the settlement to about £14.5bn — up from the £13.5bn offered to Mr Healey but short of the £28bn officials previously said was needed.

Speaking to broadcasters on yesterday morning, Housing Secretary Steve Reed said that Britain needed to prepare for the potential conflicts of the future rather than “whatever the last war was like” and that the Dip was “days away.”

Replacing plans for a new destroyer, drone vessels are part of efforts to expand the navy’s reach and firepower without a “proportional increase” in crew or cost and will work alongside eight Type 26 and five Type 31 crewed frigate, the MoD said.

Underwater drones and sensor platforms will also feature heavily after ministers warned of rising Russian submarine activity in the Atlantic near critical undersea cables.

Earlier proposals to replace the navy’s fleet of six Type 45 destroyers with a new class of guided-missile warship Type 83 destroyer will no longer appear in the Dip.

Former Greater Manchester mayor Mr Burnham has been authorised to receive government briefings from the Civil Service as he prepares for power.

The Sunday Times reported that he had seen and signed off on the blueprint.