Jewish schools will have security funded by the government if the Tories win the election, Michael Gove promised this week.

Speaking at Moriah Jewish Day School in Pinner, Middlesex, Mr Gove, currently the Shadow Education Minister, said: "I visit lots of faith schools, and they have a wonderful ethos, and produce children with great values. But Church of England and Roman Catholic schools are different. They do not need the security Jewish schools need.

"It is one of the tragedies of our time that the hatred we thought was banished decades ago is here again. The idea that hardworking parents have to pay money to keep their children safe... No! I promise to make sure they are safe. They will not have to pay for security."

He was at Moriah for the release of 500 balloons in the school colours to promote a new fundraising committee, Friends of Moriah.

The school needs to raise £100,000 over the next two years to cover - among other things - the cost of security, promised by the current government but never delivered.