United Kingdom

Last week, the UK’s Home Office released a “New Plan for Immigration.” The plan has three major objectives: to increase the fairness and efficacy of the asylum system, to deter irregular entry of asylum seekers into the UK, and to “remove more easily” those whose asylum claims were rejected.

Two positive development stories emerged from the UK education sector last week: A new tutoring scheme is hiring Sri Lankan tutors for British children. And the UK Department for Education is proposing a new international teaching qualification, which could make international recruitment easier.

The UK example has some key lessons for all countries (including the UK itself) who are considering how to improve their current response, and how to “build back better” and prepare for future pandemics.

If further cuts are to come from the ODA budget, how should they be selected and managed? And is there a way to rescue those things of greatest value in the portfolio? In a new note, I argue that there is—and that such a process can improve the quality of ODA spending in perpetuity.