For nearly 40 years, I’ve welcomed thousands of people into my hairdressing salon in Marylebone, central London.

I’ve styled the hair of rock stars, film stars, heads of state, politicians and many members of our Royal Family – including the late Princess Diana – as well as many regular clients from all walks of life.

But now I’ve decided to do something I’ve never done before – turn customers away. Just like hundreds of pubs, restaurants and other businesses taxed to the edge of insolvency by our clueless Government, I’ve resolved that if a Labour Cabinet minister asks for a cut and blow dry – and yes, they do come in from time to time – I will quietly but firmly tell them they’re not welcome and show them the door.

Some may think I’ve got nothing to complain about since the price of a haircut at our luxury salon starts at £100 and can be far more expensive. But hairdressing is a hands-on industry with high fixed costs. Our salon employs about 50 people who need to be paid, on top of rent, equipment costs and a host of other expenses.

But what makes life particularly difficult for businesses like mine, and indeed for almost everyone in the struggling hospitality sector, are the dozens of taxes we have to pay just to operate as a business.

Hair salon owner Michael Van Clarke has resolved that if a Labour Cabinet minister asks for a cut and blow dry, he will quietly but firmly tell them they’re not welcome

The celebrity hairstylist says his young staffers have told him the crippling tax on their salaries has killed their aspirations of working in a salon when they can earn the same from home

Most of our customers are all too aware of the 20 per cent VAT on their bill. But the bulk of the costs the Government loads on to businesses are invisible to the general public.

Labour’s second cash-grabbing Budget in November which saw a phasing out of the vital Covid-era discount on business rates coincided with a huge rise in the rateable value of most business properties that will see many hotels, restaurants and hair salons pay almost double the level of tax they faced in the years after the pandemic – from which many businesses still haven’t fully recovered.

Then there’s the 15 per cent employer’s contribution to National Insurance, on top of the eight per cent every employee has to pay. There’s the ridiculous ‘green levy’ businesses have to pay on top of our energy bills – mine are already high because running a salon, with all the electricity needed for our hairdryers and straighteners, is an energy-intensive business.

There are also licences, prohibitively expensive parking taxes – indeed some of my clients end up paying more on the congestion charge and parking than they do for a blow dry.