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The British republican movement is a movement in the United Kingdom which seeks to remove the British Monarchy and replace it with a Republic that has a Head Of State that is not inherited, most likely called a president. How to choose such a head of state is not agreed, with some favouring an elected president, while others would support an appointed figure head and others still support the idea of leaving the political system as it is with the absence of the monarch. There is however general agreement that the choice of what sort of republic Britain has should be left to the people. In Northern Ireland , the term republican is usually used in the context of Irish Republicanism . While also against monarchical forms of government, Irish republicans are against the presence of the British state in ''any'' form in Ireland . They advocate the creation of a United Irish Republic , as opposed to the existing Republic Of Ireland , which does not include Northern Ireland. Similarly, there are republican members of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in Scotland and Plaid Cymru in Wales , who advocate independence for those countries as republics. The SNP's official policy is that the British monarch would remain head of state in an independent Scotland, unless and until the people of Scotland were to decide otherwise. The countries which became the United Kingdom were briefly ruled as a republic in the 17th Century under Oliver Cromwell . First England (including Wales ) was declared to be the Commonwealth Of England and then Scotland and Ireland were brought under the British republic. One reason for a return to Monarchism after Cromwell's Protectorate was that a system for deciding the succession to the next leader had not been put in place. Cromwell's son, Richard , succeeded him for a period of eight months, but was unpopular, and Charles, the prince in exile, was called back to be declared Charles II . Although the United Kingdom has since become a Constitutional Monarchy , there have been movements throughout the last few centuries whose aims were to remove the monarchy and establish a republican system. A notable period was the time in the late 18th Century and early 19th Century when many Radical s were openly republican. Most, but not all republicans support a fully elected second chamber, and a written Constitution , and favour removing the remaining hereditary peers in the House Of Lords and all forms of hereditary privilege. Objections to the monarchy are often based on what republicans believe is the Anachronistic system of choosing a head of state by birth, rather than merit or election, which republicans view as being in conflict with Democracy . The most recent movement is led by ''Republic'' , the Campaign for an Elected Head of State. SUPPORT The monarchy is still largely popular, but a sizeable minority of the British public are opposed to it, opinion polls in recent years putting support for an elected head of state consistently around 20 to 30 percent. However, scandals involving the Queen's children, and a decline in respect for traditional institutions, led to small scale transient shifts in attitude. The campaign group Republic has been taking manipulative advantage of royal events in recent years and has reported significant rises in support since the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles. Websites are emerging such as British Republic and The Centre for Citizenship. After reaching a low point following the death of Diana, Princess Of Wales , support for the monarchy rebounded during the celebrations for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2002 . However, the effect of the jubilee celebrations was diminished following the collapse of the Burrell case and allegations surrounding the household of the Prince of Wales. Support for republicanism was similarly high during the later years of Queen Victoria's reign, when she withdrew from public life following the death of her husband, Prince Albert , only to die after her Diamond Jubilee. The Fabian Society published a report in July 2003 giving a number of Recommendations For Reform Of The Monarchy , but they fell short of arguing for its abolition. HIGH-PROFILE REPUBLICANS At present, none of the three major British political parties are officially republican. However, there are individual MPs who favour an abolition of the monarchy. Support for a republic is often considered to be more common on the centre-left, or far-left end of the British political spectrum than the right. Well-known contemporary republicans include Tony Benn , who in 1991 introduced a Commonwealth Of Britain Bill in Parliament ; Roy Hattersley ; journalist and author Claire Rayner ; author Benjamin Zephaniah ; Norman Baker MP; and Michael Mansfield , QC . It is also believed a number of prominent politicians and journalists support the abolition of monarchy, although the extent to which their views are out of principle or based on political expediency is not known. ARGUMENTS Republicans usually fall into one of two camps of thought, or perhaps both: those of theory, believing that a hereditary head of state is wrong in principle; and those who take a more practical view of criticising the current royal family, highlighting the supposed costs of the monarchy's maintenance, and taking a dislike to what are seen as unearned respect and deference to the monarchy being "not modern". SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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