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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Lucy Knight

British empire nostalgia played part in Brexit vote, says Nobel laureate

Abdulrazak Gurnah
Kent-based Abdulrazak Gurnah was speaking at the Hay festival. Photograph: David Levenson/Getty Images

The Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah has said he suspects the British empire is “still important in Britain” and may well have played a part in the Brexit vote.

The author, 73, born in Zanzibar, told the audience at the Hay festival that he believes there was a sense of “we can go alone, because we’ve done it before” among voters in the 2016 referendum.

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