Sunak pledges security funding will continue

● Chancellor reassures community that business and charity schemes will help their survival

CHANCELLOR RISHI Sunak has dismissed fears that the devastating economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic could lead to cuts to spending on security for synagogues, Jewish nurseries and schools after the coronavirus crisis.

Speaking to the JC this week, the 39-year-old MP for Richmond stressed that the government remains “wholly committed” to protecting current spending levels on community security.

The Chancellor pledged that he would “make sure” that the government’s doubling of spending on the Places of Worship Protection Scheme would be unaffected by budget restraints as a result of the impact of Covid-19 on the economy.

He said that the government had promised to increase spending for Jewish security to £14 million for “a very specific reason. We remain wholly committed to those funding streams because they provide important security for people.”

The Chancellor, who has been a speaker at previous Conservative Friends of Israel events, also defended the government’s package of £750 million of support for charities at a time when many of the main Jewish organisations have said they are struggling.

“Obviously their income streams have been hit,” said the Chancellor, “and that is why we want to preserve and support them”.

He added that Jewish charities “play an incredibly important part in the social fabric of this country.”

Mr Sunak told the JC that he is convinced that the 100 per cent state-backed loans for small firms he unveiled this week would help ease concerns within the community about slow access to existing coronavirus rescue schemes.

After acknowledging that a significant number of small businesses — including many operating within the Jewish community — were not receiving immediate cash support because of demands for future income projections from banks, Mr Sunak said firms could now apply for loans of up to £50,000 if they could demonstrate they were viable before the Covid-19 crisis via a two-page selfcertification form online.

The loan terms mean that no capital or interest repayments will be due for one year.

Reflecting on his background as the son of a doctor and pharmacist of Indian origin who migrated to the UK via Africa, he said: “It is important to look back at this moment in history and say this country did all that it could do at this time.”

The Chancellor stressed that his Bounce Back Loan Scheme for small businesses was a direct response to criticism that slow emergency lending was leaving small businesses struggling.

“I want to reassure Jewish Chronicle readers. We were hearing from people that banks were asking for a lot of forwards-looking projections — future cash flow — and clearly that is very tricky right now,” he said.

“We listened to the feedback and worked on fixing it. With the Bounce Back Loan we wanted to have a very simple standardised product that did not have to require the banks to do any complicated checks.”

With many businesses operating in the Jewish community located in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, the Chancellor also stressed the availability of the government’s furlough scheme, which can relieve a firm of any outlay in a time of crisis.

Charities play an incredibly important part in our social fabric’

I want to reassure Jewish Chronicle readers’