He supported the introduction of body armour for prison officers, noting that prisons are inherently violent institutions with high rates of assault. He cited reports from HMP Woodhill and Swaleside, describing the unsafe conditions and high levels of violence, including weapon use and drug trafficking.

Mr Leishman discussed the working conditions of prison officers in Scotland, highlighting pay issues, retirement age concerns, and the mental and physical demands of the job. He noted that inflation outpaces the 3.5% pay award for prison officers and called the current retirement age of 68 unrealistic given the profession's demanding nature. The speaker also addressed overcrowding in prisons and its impact on safety and rehabilitation efforts.

He highlighted his father's long career as a prison officer, emphasizing the stress and pressure faced by officers due to understaffing and overcrowding. He pointed out that there were 10,568 assaults on staff in the year to March 2025, with mental health-related sickness days increasing by 44% since 2019. Jones also raised concerns about overseas prison officers potentially losing their jobs due to immigration policy changes.

Ms McVey highlighted the increase in violence against prison staff at Styal prison, citing specific incidents and statistics. She noted that assaults on prison officers have almost tripled over a decade, reaching 10,500 cases annually by March 2025, with many involving improvised weapons or harmful substances. Ms McVey also pointed out the high turnover rate of prison officers due to safety concerns and called for mandatory body armour in all types of prisons.

I declare my membership of the justice unions parliamentary group and express admiration for prison officers' bravery. I question why it took such an appalling security failure for the Government to listen to union calls for body armour in high-security prisons, noting a vicious circle of violence and collapsing experience due to austerity cuts leading to 116,000 years of cumulative prison officer experience lost since 2010.

She recounted a story of her friend's daughter begging him to give up his job as a prison officer after seeing violent incidents, highlighting the impact on officers' mental health. She visited HMP Wandsworth, noting the lack of experience due to staff cuts and raising concerns about violence. She urged the Minister to mandate stab-proof vests across adult male closed estates.

Jim Shannon commended the right hon. Gentleman for securing this debate and highlighted rising safety concerns in Northern Ireland's prison system, noting a significant increase in attacks on prison officers from 59 in 2023 to 96 in 2024. He attributed these issues to overcrowding and higher prison populations.

He declared an interest as an honorary life member of the Prison Officers Association. He highlighted that many prisoners have severe mental health problems and drug dependencies, arguing they should be in specialist units rather than prison. He also stressed the need for workers to negotiate safe working conditions and take industrial action if necessary.

Praised Claire for using her experience to advocate for prison officer safety, acknowledged the difficult conditions faced by prison officers and their importance, questioned the government's commitment to providing mandatory body armour as promised, asked how many stab-proof vests have been delivered and fitted to officers, inquired about the specific categories of prisons where body armour is mandated or available, highlighted inconsistencies between promises and actual implementation, raised concerns over compensation given to offenders for breaches of human rights while incarcerated.

Ms Liz Saville-Roberts discussed the increasing violence in prisons over the past decade, with a rise in prisoner-on-prisoner and prisoner-on-staff assaults. She highlighted that prison officers' health and safety is often a low priority for the Prison Service, citing specific cases where prison officers were penalised for protesting against unsafe conditions. The POA's Safe Inside Prisons Charter has yet to be adopted by the Prison Service despite its widespread support among unions. Suggested that staff retention could serve as a critical key performance indicator to enhance prison safety and noted the importance of publicly measuring standards for accountability.