The Conservatives have called for specialist prison officer teams to be armed with lethal weapons to tackle the growing threat posed by Islamist extremist inmates.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said the elite units should be given access to firearms, alongside Tasers, stun grenades and high-collar stab-proof vests.
The proposal has been adopted by the party following recommendations from Ian Acheson, a former prison governor and senior adviser to the Counter Extremism Project.
This comes after a series of alleged violent attacks on prison staff, including by high-profile inmates Hashem Abedi, the Manchester Arena bomb plotter, and Axel Rudakubana, the Southport killer.
An officer at a high-security prison in Worcestershire was also stabbed on Friday morning with a weapon that may have been brought in from outside the prison.
Mr Jenrick said: “Islamist gangs and violent prisoners in our jails are out of control.
“It's a national security emergency, but the government is dithering. If they don't act soon, there is a very real risk that a prison officer is kidnapped or murdered in the line of duty, or that a terrorist attack is directed from inside prison."
Mr Jenrick commissioned Mr Acheson to conduct a rapid review into the situation in prisons, with a view to make recommendations to government.
Other measures recommended include removing radical Islamist imams working in prisons along with mandating a quarterly release of data on religious conversions in prison and faith-based incidents.
Mr Jenrick went on to say: “We have to stop pussy-footing around Islamist extremists and violent offenders in jails.
"That means arming specialist prison officer teams with tasers and stun grenades, as well as giving them access to lethal weapons in exceptional circumstances.
"If prison governors can't easily keep terrorist influencers and radicalising inmates apart from the mainstream prisoners they target, then we don't control our prisons - they do.
“We must take back control and restore order by giving officers the powers and protection they need."
In April, the Manchester Arena plotter, Hashem Abedi, allegedly threw boiling oil on prison staff before attacking them with homemade weapons in a calculated ambush.
Last month, the South port killer, Axel Rudakubana , allegedly assaulted an officer with boiling water.
Officers working in prisons already have access to batons and a form of pepper spray in mens prisons in the public sector.
The justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has now ordered a review into the use of stab proof vests, and a trial to give specialist officers Tasers when dealing with serious incidents will be launched this summer.
A Ministry of Justice source said: "The government considers the introduction of lethal weapons into prisons would put prison officers at greater risk."
They also said that the government has a “zero-tolerance approach” to violence and extremism in prisons.
The source added: “The last government added just 500 cells to our prison estate, and left our jails in total crisis. In 14 years they closed 1,600 cells in the high-security estate, staff assaults soared, and experienced officers left in droves. Now the arsonists are pretending to be firefighters.
“This government is cleaning up the mess the last government left behind. We are building new prisons, with 2,400 new cells opened since we took office. And we take a zero-tolerance approach to violence and extremism inside.”
