Memo to Bob Crow: your maths is a little off track

In the parallel universe inhabited by the RMT rail union leader Bob Crow, students protesting over tuition fees are sowing the seeds of the destruction of capitalism, and Britain during the 1970s was a utopia of happiness. An avowed Marxist who regularly brings London's transport network to a halt, Crow can even turn his hand to economics. In an interview with the Guardian 's Decca Aitkenhead , he suggested that "if you put a 1p tax on every text message that's sent in Britain, that would nearly wipe out half the deficit". Great idea, Bob. The only problem is that it wouldn't do anything of the sort. There were 96.8bn text messages sent in Britain last year, meaning a 1p tax would yield £968m. The nation's budget deficit is set to be £150bn this year. Even if a text tax raised far more, you might wonder whether a surcharge disproportionately hitting teenagers is a fair way of sustaining sufficient economic prosperity to keep Bob's drivers in inflation-busting pay rises.