Benjamin Ramm

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Benjamin Ramm FRSA (born 12 June 1982) is a writer and journalist for the BBC and openDemocracy. He is former editor of The Liberal magazine.

In December 2005, as editor of The Liberal, Ramm organised a "Kennedy Must Go" campaign to unseat Liberal Democrat party leader Charles Kennedy. [1] After the formation of the UK coalition government in 2010, Ramm argued that the party provided cover – as "the cloak that hides the dagger" [2] – for policies that damaged liberalism. He criticized the coalition on spending cuts, [3] the reforms to the NHS, [4] civil liberties, [5] the rise in VAT, [6] and the increase in tuition fees. [7]

In May 2011, he published the pamphlet Citizens: A Manifesto, featuring endorsements from Naomi Wolf, Philip Pullman, Ariel Dorfman and Peter Tatchell. [8]

Ramm is editor-at-large of openDemocracy. [9] He presents documentaries for BBC Radio 4 [10] and the BBC World Service, [11] and is a regular feature writer for BBC Culture. [12] [13] [14]

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References

  1. "Kennedy hits back over quit call". BBC News. 30 December 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  2. Stevenson, Alex (9 December 2010). "Tuition fee rebels slash coalition majority". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  3. Morris, Nigel (21 October 2010). "Lib Dems made sure cuts were fair, Clegg tells party members". The Independent. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  4. Press Association (10 March 2012). "NHS Reforms – Liberal Democrat Spring Conference Vote Bid Fails". HuffPost. UK. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  5. Mulholland, Hélène (2 April 2012). "Plans for greater email and web monitoring powers spark privacy fears". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  6. "Mixed reactions to Budget from grassroots Lib Dems". BBC News. 22 June 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  7. Grice, Andrew (10 December 2010). "Victory – but at what price?". The Independent. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  8. "Citizens: A Manifesto – Reception". citizensmanifesto.net. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  9. "openDemocracy's Team". openDemocracy. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  10. "Mao's Golden Mangoes – BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  11. "Terror and Technology: The Unabomber, The Documentary – BBC World Service". BBC. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  12. Ramm, Benjamin. "The LSD cult that transformed America" . Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  13. Ramm, Benjamin. "The Irish novel that seduced the USSR" . Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  14. Ramm, Benjamin. "A passport from a country that doesn't exist" . Retrieved 19 May 2017.