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David Cameron is determined to gain House of Commons support for airstrikes in Syria within the next two weeks.

The first bombing raids would begin within hours of the PM securing a 'yes' vote, The Sunday Times has reported.

Sources said Cameron is to start privately convincing MPs of the need to act like 'Churchill not Chamberlain' with regards to ISIS.

The Prime Minister is preparing a seven-point plan for intervention in Syria which will be released later this week.

He was forced to do so after the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee warned against airstrikes until there was an 'coherent' strategy to deal with the aftermath.

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The push for war comes as the Chancellor plans to announce that Britain is purchasing 138 stealth fighter jets in a £12bn deal.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Mr Osborne said the investment will ensure the UK has the world's second most potent carrier strike force after the United States, with the resources to tackle ISIS and other extremists for a generation.

The move is said to be the centrepiece in the Chancellor's Strategic Defence and Security Review, which will be published tomorrow ahead of the overall spending review on Wednesday.

Mr Osborne confirmed a plan for bombing Syria will be brought to MPs by the end of the week, but declined to say when a vote - similar to one MPs defeated in 2013 - will take place.

(Image: BBC)

He said: "We're not going to go to the House of Commons and lose again... That would be a publicity coup for ISIL."

He added: "We'll make the case as a government, we'll allow MPs to digest that response, and then we'll see where we stand."

But he warned: "We have to decide whether Britain is a country that shapes the world or a country that is shaped by the world."

David Cameron is also meeting French President Francois Hollande tomorrow for talks on how to tackle ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

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(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

This potential escalation comes as polls show public support for UK involvement in Syria is growing.

An exclusive poll for the Sunday Mirror found 46% of people back Britain joining airstrikes in the war-ravaged country even without a United Nations resolution.

But support is split along party lines, with only half of Labour voters thinking it's justified to kill Brits in Syria compared to 80% of Tories.

Astonishing, 52% of voters can foresee a situation in which British troops will have to be sent in on the ground.

The RAF has been involved in air strikes on ISIS in Iraq but extending the campaign to attack targets in Syria has proved controversial.

(Image: Rob Stothard)

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would not consider backing a new wave of strikes without a UN Security Council resolution.

David Cameron said he would press ahead without one - leading to claims the situation could become a repeat of the Iraq War.

The UN has since agreed a resolution to adopt 'all necessary measures' to defeat ISIS. But it stopped short of authorising military action.

Mr Corbyn said yesterday people 'must not keep making the same mistakes' when responding to terror attacks and avoid being 'drawn into responses that feed a cycle of violence'.