Prison officers should be armed, say Conservatives

Prison officers dealing with violent inmates in high security jails should be armed, the shadow justice secretary has said.

Robert Jenrick told the BBC that specialist guards should have Taser stun guns and baton rounds - a less lethal alternative to traditional bullets - to give them "confidence" in handling threats.

He also said they should have access to lethal weapons during "emergency situations".

Prison officers in adult male prisons currently only carry an extendable baton and Pava, a synthetic pepper spray.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said some prison officers will use Tasers this summer on a trial basis, but argued that giving them lethal weapons would put them at greater risk.

Speaking to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, Jenrick said that without intervention it was "only a matter of time" before a prison officer was "held hostage and potentially killed".

He added that under his proposals, officers would not be "walking the wings" with lethal weapons, but would "have access to them if they need them".

The Tories' call for officers to be armed follows a review conducted for the party by former prison governor Ian Acheson.

Among other policies, the party also wants to see high-collar stab vests immediately rolled out to frontline officers.

The Prison Officers' Association (POA), a union, recently called for stronger protection for staff after a string of attacks. It has backed the idea of giving officers Tasers to officers working in the UK's most dangerous jails.

Mark Fairhurst, its national chair, told the BBC that it already has an agreement with police forces to provide "mutual aid" where firearms are required.

"If the Tories think we need this level of protection it demonstrates how impractical their ideas really are," he added.

"We need to exhaust all other options first, including adequate protections for staff and supermax facilities".

In response to Jenrick's proposals, Labour said it was "cleaning up the mess" after the Conservatives' "dire record" in office.

"In 14 years they added fewer than 500 prison places in total and closed 1,600 cells in the high-security estate as assaults on prison officers soared and experienced officers quit," a party spokesperson added.

In his BBC interview, Jenrick, who held various ministerial roles in the last government, conceded that his party "should have done more" in office.

"But we're in opposition now, it is my job to bring forward good, sensible solutions," he added.

The MoJ said protective body armour is used in segregation units and specialist areas for situations that are deemed as high risk.

It added that a "snap review" into whether it should be used more routinely will report in the coming days.