NO, I don't expect any proposals of marriage from any women today. I'm a tad long in the tooth for all that jazz, even though I am sure Mrs Mann would be happy to do a deal with someone and trade me in.

Today of course is February 29, the unique day every four years when ladies can turn the tables and ask for the hand of their man in wedded bliss.

I have no idea how many females ever took up this tradition but it was a nice idea. Sadly, in society these days it is unworkable for two reasons.

Firstly, a large proportion of couples don't seem to marry any longer but prefer to live in sin, or worse still, disregard the idea of monogamy.

Marriage is seen as outdated, expensive and inconvenient. Instead, you hear people talking confusingly about their partners'. What a horrid word that is in this context.

I think of partner in a business sense, for instance in a legal firm. In a love relationship, it's presumably meant to signal equality but is far more of a pompous term than husband' or wife'.

The other reason the February 29 tradition is lost is that most modern women wouldn't think twice about proposing marriage to a man if they wanted to on any day of the week. There is genuine equality these days, which is no bad thing.

What concerns me is that people are not getting married, or if they do bother, it soon ends in tears. How many golden weddings will we see in 50 years' time? I bet they will be rare to the point of being extinct.

Many of you will say: "So what?" But this demise in the institution of holy wedlock goes hand in hand with the decline in our moral fabric. The lack of strong families leads to feral children roaming our streets and is the single biggest reason for our yob society.

So, gents, if she asks today, do me a favour and please reply: "I do."