There’s not much to look forward to when the new Chancellor George Osborne delivers his “emergency” budget later this month.

Indeed, the Prime Minister said the measures would be ‘life-changing’.

Mr Osborne has yet to earn his spurs and win the confidence of the City, business and other observers.

But he is the man in the hot seat, so we’ll have to see what sort of a fist he makes of it.

He will need to be careful, however, not to damage the fragile recovery that has been evident in recent months.

More local businesses are looking forward with more confidence and plans to grow and develop.

For example, timber merchants C R Taylor has revived plans to move from Denholme to a bigger base in the Bradford area on the back of revived fortunes.

Swiss-owned industrial gaskets manufacturer Klinger, based on the Euroway estate, has taken its overseas sales to more than £10m this year. The firm employs around 130 people and is the only remaining UK manufacturer of its kind and a world-leading supplier of sealing products to the oil and gas industry.

Bingley-based graphic and web design firm Expo Creative, which specialises in the education field, is working flat out and looking to expand and take on an extra member of staff.

And Baildon-based software company Cimlogic Ltd aims to recruit five graduates to learn how to develop systems to help manufacturing companies become leaner and more efficient by monitoring the efficiency of machinery.

These are encouraging signs that confidence and demand is returning. The new government would endanger that at its peril.