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But Dr Varun Uberoi, a senior lecturer at Brunel University, believes Brexit now presented a chance to “learn from our mistakes”. The issue of freedom of movement for EU citizens was a central component of the referendum, with Brexiteers arguing leaving the EU was the only way to control immigration. Dr Uberoi said: “I felt that certain things could have been handled differently with regards to the EU, so for example, I think it was a mistake to let so many central and eastern Europeans come in, in the vast quantities that they did. “But that isn’t a reason to exit the EU, that’s a reason to learn from certain mistakes, certain pressures placed on resources, which are often scarce. “Learn from our mistakes, don’t repeat them and try to deal with the difficulty – but not use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”

GETTY•EXPRESS Dr Varun Uberoi says the UK has failed to make an emotional commitment to the EU even after 40 years

Despite 40 years – moral and emotional commitments were not developed with the EU – it’s very sad but it says something about possibly the English character as a whole Dr Varun Uberoi

The EU referendum, which saw more than 17million people vote to leave, signalled “darker times”, according to the academic, who is an expert on national identity and public policy. Dr Uberoi told Express.co.uk: “Like a person, a nation can go through darker times when certain types of arguments and tendencies are dominant, certain ideas are dominant and they can behave in ways they would otherwise not want to. “And I suspect currently in England, we’re going through one of those times.” The lecturer said the Brexit vote was down to a lack of “emotional” and “moral” commitment to the EU. He explained: “Despite 40 years of union with the EU, we couldn’t develop emotional commitments and moral commitments to the EU, such that the arguments for remaining were purely financial.

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