Javid fails to disguise cynical electioneering behind spending review

Declaring the end of austerity should have been an easy task but the chancellor blew it

• Sajid Javid promises 'decade of renewal'
• At a glance: the chancellor's key points

It should have been a breeze for Sajid Javid. The new chancellor had money to spend. He was primed to announce that the years of austerity were over. After years of belt-tightening, it was the easiest of gigs. Yet somehow he managed to muff it.

Javid's job was relatively simple. He had to announce big increases in the budgets for the NHS, education, the police and public investment, while insisting he was not engaged in a cynical, pre-election ploy.