Robert Jenrick says 'give prison officers lethal weapons to tackle Islamist extremists' - Birmingham Live

Robert Jenrick says 'give prison officers lethal weapons to tackle Islamist extremists'He wants prison guards to have stun grenades, baton rounds and lethal weaponsNewsAnnabal Bagdi Senior

reporter14:31, 01 Jun 2025Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick outside BBC Broadcasting House in London doing media interviews after appearing on the BBC One current affairs programme,

Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has said prison officers must be armed with lethal weapons to prevent their kidnap or murder by Islamist extremists and

violent criminals.

Officials need to 'stop pussy-footing' around Islamist extremists and violent offenders and give prison officers the weapons 'they need', Mr Jenrick said.

‌ The Conservatives want secure armouries brought in at maximum security jails to be used as a last resort.

‌ They have also called for high-collar stab vests for frontline officers in the aftermath of recent attacks on prison officers.

Mr Jenrick defended calls for specialist armed teams in jails and said prison officers needed access to stun grenades, baton rounds and lethal weapons.

He claimed there is a growing risk that a prison officer could be kidnapped or murdered without his proposed reforms.

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Mr Jenrick said: "We have to stop pussy-footing around Islamist extremists and violent offenders in jails."

He told the Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme on Sky News: "Give them Tasers, give them stun grenades, give them baton rounds and give them access to lethal weapons.

‌ "Let’s ensure the officers have what they need.

"The Chief Inspector of Prisons himself has said that he can see a situation where people like Islamist terrorists get access through drones to weapons, to explosives, hold prison officers

hostage, even kill officers.

"This is going to happen unless the Government take action."

‌ Mr Jenrick commissioned counter-extremism expert and former prison governor Ian Acheson to carry out a rapid review into the violence.

Mr Acheson said: "The threat to officer safety is now intolerable and must be met decisively by the Government.

"The balance inside too many of our prisons has shifted away from control by the state to mere containment and the price is soaring levels of staff assaults and wrecked rehabilitation."

‌ It come after a number of attacks by high-profile inmates on guards.

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Manchester Arena plotter Hashem Abedi targeted prison staff with boiling oil and homemade weapons in a planned ambush.

‌ Southport killer Axel Rudakubana also allegedly attacked a prison officer at HMP Belmarsh in May by pouring boiling water over them.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has ordered a snap review into whether stab vests should be used more routinely.

A trial which will give specialised officers dealing with serious incidents Tasers is due to be launched this summer.

‌ Officers already have access to batons and Pava spray - a synthetic form of pepper spray - in men’s prisons.

Asked whether he understood the public would want him to take responsibility for failing prisons as a former government minister, Mr Jenrick told the BBC ’s Sunday Morning With Laura

Kuenssberg programme: "We should have done more, but look, what Labour are doing now is making the problem worse, and they are reaching for the easy lever of letting prisoners out early."

More than 10,000 prisoners were released up to 70 days early by the Tory government, according to Ministry of Justice figures.

‌ Under the End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) scheme announced in October 2023, some prisoners can be freed 18 days before their conditional release date.

That was increased to 35 days in March and then to 70 days in May.

The number of ECSL releases between October 17 and June 30 was 10,083, data indicates.

Article continues below Responding to the shadow justice secretary’s comments, a Labour Party spokesperson said: "Robert Jenrick is once again being totally dishonest about the

Conservatives’ dire record in a desperate attempt to distract from the crisis they left behind in our prison system.

"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.

"This Labour Government is cleaning up the mess the Conservatives created with a £4.7 billion investment to build new prisons and a zero-tolerance approach to violence in the system."