We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to introduce legislation to replace the monarchy with a democratically elected head of state

12.02.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 17th Apr 2007

Sometime ago I signed a petition on 10 Downing Street E-Petitions website calling on the PM to introduce legislation to replace the monarchy with a democratically elected head of state.

I would like to see the UK become a Republic because I believe that the Monarchy is undemocratic and if democracy is really as important as we claim it needs to reach the very top of our political system, we the voters should choose our most senior public representatives. Plus it's not like there is not a democratic alternative. Most of our European neighbours plus major democracies such as India and the United States of America have successful democratic republics

How can we claim to be a democracy and preach to our friends around the world if our own Head of State is chosen by a random genetic lottery and how in a modern society can we accept that some people are born superior to others which give them a natural right to rule.

There is also an argument which I am not certain of that suggests a republic would be good for tourism because if all the palaces, gardens and homes were open to the public we could attract many new tourists and the £8m a year spent on the Civil List could be better spent on promoting Britain as a tourist destination.

The deadline to sign up is 16th June 2007 so if you would like to have a say on who should the head of state for our country please visit http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/republic/?signed=a820b62.04f8d4 and sign up. I would also ask that you contact family and friends and encourage them to do the same.