SHADOW Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has accused Nigel Farage of “getting into bed” with Sir Keir Starmer by proposing extra spending on welfare.

He also told GB News that some prison officers should be armed with guns to prevent dangerous inmates from taking over prisons.

Jenrick told the Camilla Tominey Show: “Look what’s happened this week. You’ve had, astonishingly, Nigel Farage getting into bed with Keir Starmer and hiking the welfare bill, spending £3.5 billion…I know Nigel Farage likes a pint or two, but it feels as if he’s had one too many before he announced that he was going to spend £3.5 billion extra on welfare.

“And then you’ve got Zia Yusuf, the chairman of Reform, doing this wacky cryptocurrency policy in Las Vegas. I mean, I’m all for innovation, but this is not the number one priority of my constituents in Newark.

“I don’t think Reform have the answers to the challenges this country faces. That is what I’m focused on.”

Asked why people seem to prefer Farage over Kemi Badenoch, he said: “Kemi Badenoch is the leader of our party. I’m right behind her.

“She’s working hard to hold this government to account, and she’s landing blows. Look, what we’ve seen recently, where Labour have done this astonishing U-turn on the winter fuel payment, which was taking away money from some of the poorest pensioners in our society. That is what Kemi is doing.

“We know it’s going to be a hard road ahead, but if we actually bring forward serious answers to the challenges this country faces, not get into bed with Keir Starmer on hiking welfare and taking thousands of pounds from savers and handing it to people so they can have their third, fourth, and fifth child.

“I believe, over time, we can win back the trust and the confidence of the British public.”

In a discussion about the prison system, he said some prison officers should be armed: “I am the first person to acknowledge the mistakes of the last Conservative government. I resigned from the cabinet because I thought it was completely wrong that Rishi Sunak wouldn’t take my advice on stopping the boats and wouldn’t go further to bring down legal migration.

“But I am now the shadow Justice Secretary, I’m interested in the present and the future and what we can do to make this country a better place. And on prisons, I’m really worried that there is a mounting issue about prison officer safety, and in particular, Islamist gangs and terrorists in our prisons.

“I’m warning today that unless the government takes action, it is only a matter of time before a prison officer is held hostage and, God forbid, is actually killed.

“That’s why I’ve commissioned Ian Acheson, one of the most respected former prison governors in our country, to bring forward recommendations that I’m giving to the government today. They have to act now.

“I’m saying, let’s have the backs of those brave prison officers. Let’s properly equip them so that specialist officers in our maximum security jails have lethal weapons. So, God forbid, a prisoner has a gun, they can take action and regain control of that jail as quickly as possible.

“Let’s make sure those officers have high collar stab vests. It’s totally wrong that they don’t have that. These are brave men and women doing a tough job, and I want them to be properly protected.”

He added: “We’re talking here about specialist trained officers in maximum security jails, using these in the most difficult situations, going to a secure armoury, getting them so they could respond rapidly and regain control of the prison

“Today, prison officers do go in with guns in these situations, but they have to call for backup to come to the prison, and that can take hours. Some of these maximum security jails, like Long Lartin in Worcestershire are in very rural locations. I’m not prepared for our prison officers to be left in that situation.

“And Charlie Taylor, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, he warned at the beginning of the year, this exact situation could happen. He said that drones could be used so that guns get into prisons and get into the hands of these dangerous prisoners and these Islamist terrorists that are now in our jails.”