The Ministry of Defence (MoD) will spend more than £1bn to develop technology to speed up decisions on the battlefield.

The funding will be one of the results of the government's long-awaited strategic defence review which is due to be published in full on Monday.

The government has committed to raising defence spending to 2.5% GDP from April 2027 with an ambition to increase that to 3% in the next parliament.

In February, the prime minister said cuts to the foreign aid budget would be used to fund the military boost.

Announcing the results of the review, the MoD said a new Digital Targeting Web would better connect soldiers on the ground with key information provided by satellites, aircraft and drones helping them target enemy threats faster.

Defence Secretary John Healey said the technology announced in the review – which will harness Artificial Intelligence (AI) and software – also highlights lessons being learnt from the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine is already using AI and software to speed up the process of identifying, and then hitting, Russian military targets.

The review had been commissioned by the newly formed Labour government shortly after last year's election with Healey describing it as the "first of its kind".

The government said the findings would be published in the first half of 2025, but did not give an exact date.

Healey made the announcement on a visit to the MoD's cyber headquarters in Corsham, Wiltshire.

The headquarters is where the UK military co-ordinates their cyber activities to both prevent and to carry out cyber-attacks.

Defence officials said over the last two years the UK's military had faced more than 90,000 cyber-attacks by potential adversaries.

Attacks have been on the rise, as has their level of sophistication, they added.

Staff at Corsham said they had recently helped identify and block malware sent to UK military personnel who recently returned from working abroad.

They said the source of the malware was from a "known Russian actor".

Both Russia and China have been linked to the increase in cyber-attacks.

Defence officials have confirmed that the UK military has also been conducting its own offensive cyber-attacks.

Healey said it showed the nature of warfare was changing.

"The keyboard is now a weapon of war and we are responding to that," he said.

He said the UK needed to be the fastest-innovating military within the Nato alliance.

As part of the strategic defence review, the UK's military cyber operations will be overseen by a new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command.

The MoD said the Command would also take the lead in electronic warfare, from co-ordinating efforts to intercept any adversaries communications, to jamming drones.

Healey said the extra investment being made was possible because of the government's "historic commitment" to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027.

However, the Nato Secretary-General, Mark Rutte, is calling on allies to increase defence spending by more than 3.5% of GDP.

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Campaigners have welcomed a much-anticipated review into family visa requirements previously labelled a 'tax on love' by a Bristol MP.

The Home Office said it is considering recommendations which include lowering the minimum income required for a British citizen or settled resident to apply for a visa for their foreign spouse in the UK, currently set at £29,000.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has reviewed the impact of the current visa process on families, including on children's mental health and the right to family life.

Executive director of Reunite Families UK, Caroline Coombs, from Bristol, said "children are the biggest victims of these rules".

The minimum income requirement (MIR) has long been contested by couples who are unable to meet the threshold and, in some cases, are therefore forced to live apart.

First introduced in 2012, it increased from £18,600 to £29,000 in April 2024, as part of measures by the previous Conservative government to reduce immigration.

The Labour government commissioned an independent review of the policy, which has been carried out by the MAC, and was published on Tuesday.

The current threshold applies only to the British partner or settled resident and does not account for potential earnings from the foreign partner once in the UK – a rule the review is also calling on the Government to reconsider.

When she realised she was about to lose her job, Tracy Moore says her mental health hit "rock bottom".

The 55-year-old, from Leicestershire, said she felt abandoned and even considered taking her life, but instead sought the advice of her GP, who in turn sent her to a social prescriber – a decision she believes saved her life.

Social prescribing is a person-centred approach that connects individuals to community activities, groups, and services to improve their mental health.

This can include anything from singing with a choir or volunteering with a cattery to support with household bills.

The Hinckley and Bosworth Medical Alliance, which represents 12 GP surgeries in the county, estimates that issuing social prescriptions has saved it £70,000 in GP time through reduced repeat appointments over the past year.

Tracy said her mental health plunged while going through redundancy.

"I needed to work to keep my brain active," she said. "I'd worked since I was 15 so the thought of not having a job devastated me.

"I wouldn't have been here if they hadn't intervened at the time they did.

"My social prescriber, Molly, listened to me, to find out what was at the root of my depression and suicidal throughts. Having someone to listen to me was just amazing."

In Tracy's case, volunteering for the NHS as a patient advisor gave her the sense of purpose she needed to improve her mental health.

"It changed my life completely, I can't thank them enough," she said.

Lucy Moore, who shares Tracy's surname but is not related, manages the Social Prescribing team at Hinckley and Bosworth Medial Alliance.

She said social prescribing had resulted in patients seeking fewer follow-up appointments – freeing up slots for people with other conditions.

"One in five GP appointments are not for patients' medical health but for their social health and mental wellbeing," she said.

"We listen to the patient, we can direct them to a social or exercise group and even go with them if needed. Whatever their interest is, we can help.

"But the best thing is that people like Tracy have had their lives transformed."