“We take them on the roads, we take them in the air, and now we will take them at their work, and in their homes.” Surely this must have been the sinister chant from the Chancellor's office when the plan to rob the middle-classes – people like you and I, in case you've forgotten – was hatched. Together with penalising the ‘have-nots’, who will have what they have removed too.

OK, so I'm not going to pay 50% tax. I'm not in that elite group of earners – anyway, I wouldn't tell you even if I was. However, I will lose my weekly Child Benefit, and I will be paying an extra 2.5% VAT on all those items that for a doctor should never be considered desirable, but essential. After all, it's all part of creating a trusting image for our patients to fill them with confidence – though not so much confidence that the Chancellor decides to put a tax on that as well.

So as an individual I'm going to …