Have you ever wondered where in the wedding certificate it says that a man’s hair becomes communal property when he is married? Where does it say that the wife decides when it needs cutting and grooming? I never tell my wife when to go to the hairdresser.

You may well think, "What has this to do with baking?" Well, where in the Magna Carta is it written that the government can tell me how to run my business? It has appointed itself a partner in my business, without even asking me or paying me any money.

It is, in fact, the senior partner, as it takes most of the profit and I, alone, bear all of the losses. While interviewing staff for a position, I cannot ask a female if she is pregnant, for example. But does it not occur to anyone that if she is, she may well not be able to do the job I am employing her for - particularly if it entails, say, heavy lifting?

It’s rather like interviewing a man for a marathon running team and not being allowed to ask if he has two legs! Even by asking such questions, one would be in breach of the law, and considered uncaring and deserving of eter- nal damnation.

The unpalatable fact to these people is, we in business have to survive and prosper to make the money to pay for all the benefits the professional do-gooders - who should really be called professional takers - demand of us.

The disability lobby is very powerful and anyone daring to question its view on what it is entitled to do will have massive vituperation and even hate thrown at them and be called uncaring, disgusting, appalling - in fact every derogatory term known to mankind.

Let me defend myself before the hate mail starts. I am getting old, my friends are getting old. We are, in many cases, beginning to suffer minor and even major disabilities. We do understand the problems and wish to help and be helped.

However, we also understand that business does not have a pot of unlimited funds available to put in facilities that possibly only two or three people will ever use. There are those who will say, "How would you feel if you were one of the two or three unable to gain entrance?" What a silly question. I would simply get on with it. I have always felt I should have been six feet tall, look like a film star and have all the ladies swooning over me. But alas, it was not to be.

The point I am making is that life is not always fair and, while we all try to do the best we can for others, there is a limit on resources.

The government tells us we should be proud to pay taxes. Well I could be just as proud for half the taxes. Although I also think that if I could only owe the government a large enough amount of tax, they could declare me a Third World country and give me a huge grant. That way, I would get all my money back, plus a slice of yours.

Finally, I think we should have a fair tax structure that allows us all to cheat evenly. The one thing the poor and middle classes have in common is that they pay a large slice of their income in taxes, while the rich pay a very low proportion of theirs in taxes. Could we not declare the Isle of Wight a tax haven for small businesses? n