What we want

We advocate keeping our parliamentary democracy but replacing the unelected monarch with a directly elected, ceremonial head of state - much like the system in Ireland.

Any decision on a new constitutional settlement must always be the British people's, through a referendum.

Why we want it

The monarchy is not only an unaccountable and expensive institution, unrepresentative of modern Britain, it also gives politicians almost limitless power.

It does this is in a variety of ways:

• The royal prerogative: Former royal powers that allow the Prime Minister to declare war or sign treaties (amongst other things) without a vote in Parliament
• The Privy Council: A body of advisors to the monarch, now mostly made up of senior politicians, which can enact legislation without a vote in Parliament
• The Crown-in-Parliament: The principle, which came about when parliament removed much of the monarch's power, by which Parliament can pass any law it likes - meaning our liberties can never be guaranteed.

We believe our democracy should inspire a common sense of "we the people" - together we should own, control and take responsibility for our political affairs. We believe Britain deserves a republican constitution in place of the monarchy because you deserve the very best democracy possible.

Today there are few who believe our democracy is the best it can be. So often we hear about politicians not being accountable, about government centralising power, about parliament and cabinet having little control over the prime minister. We call ourselves a democracy yet we elect less than half our parliament. We get to vote once every four or five years yet between elections the government's power is limitless.

We believe most of the problems in our democracy can be traced back to one source: the Crown. And we believe too, no matter what the political and constitutional arguments, it is simply unacceptable for the monarchy to continue. No nation that claims to value democracy can also value an institution based on elitism, exclusive privilege and hereditary public office.

We believe a republican constitution is best for Britain.