Link to full briefing here: britishprogress.org/briefings/es...

The ETO will:
- Have the flexibility to design packages to incentivise exceptional talent to relocate to Britain
- Cover all STEM fields
- Target the diaspora as well as international talent.
- Provide a fast-tracked ETO visa (capped at 100 a year)
- Leverage philanthropic co‑funding

The ETO’s goal: relocate world-class talent so they discover, build & scale in Britain – in service of economic growth and prosperity for the British people.

We want a new idea forge that builds the future in Britain.

But the UK is making itself unattractive to high-skilled migrants, and we are a net exporter of AI talent.

- Highly skilled immigrants are responsible for about 36%–37% of US innovation.
- 15% of British residents are foreign-born, but 39% of our fastest-growing startups have an immigrant co-founder.
- In the US, ~70% of the top AI talent is foreign-born. In Britain, it is ~77%.

Advancing the technological frontier & delivering growth, often depends on a small number of top performers:
- 1% of scientists capture more than 1/5th of citations globally
- A handful of researchers account for most high-value patents
- Star inventors build better companies than their peers

In the 1960-90s: Immigrant engineers— the “Traitorous Eight,” Andy Grove, Morris Chang— seeded Silicon Valley; by 2012, 44 % of its high-tech firms had immigrant founders.

In the 1930-50s: European émigrés filled labs from Los Alamos to Bletchley, tipping the balance in rocketry, code-breaking & nuclear science; the US even ran Operation Paperclip, the UK Operation Surgeon, to headhunt and relocate them.

History shows that human talent can shift the balance of global power. Inflows of exceptional talent shaped the rocket age, powered Bletchley Park’s wartime code-breaking, and built Silicon Valley & the chip industry.

The UK government must update legislation to create a distinct legal category for delivery bots—separate from motor vehicles—to allow safe and regulated use on pavements.

Because these two images are obviously not the same…

4) And it is an environmental setback. Every delivery made by a diesel van instead of a lightweight, electric-powered robot contributes to unnecessary emissions and urban congestion.

3)UK businesses are missing out on cost-saving automation that could cut last-mile delivery expenses by 40%.