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Labour calls on government to come clean in secrecy row over £800m research agency

Exclusive: UK government accused of ‘blanket secrecy’ and ‘ducking oversight’ over decision to exempt Dominic Cummings’ research agency from FOI law

By Peter Geoghegan and Jenna Corderoy
Labour calls on government to come clean in secrecy row over £800m research agency
Ed Miliband has called on the government to stop 'ducking oversight' | Russell Hart/Alamy Live News
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Labour has urged the government to stop “ducking oversight” and “immediately publish” any evidence behind its controversial decision to exempt a new £800m defence research agency from Freedom of Information (FOI) law.

The move comes after ministers refused openDemocracy’s request to release the evidence behind the highly unusual decision to spare the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) from being subject to transparency legislation.

All public bodies are ordinarily subject to FOI but ministers have previously insisted that ARIA, the brainchild of Dominic Cummings, should not have “the burden of processing” information requests.

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