MPs clash over mandate and remit of Aria research agency

Ed Miliband says government should not shirk from setting priorities for the high-risk research funder

The government should set a clear mandate and framework for its planned £800 million Advanced Research and Invention Agency, opposition MPs have said.

“I really understand the wish to give freedom to Aria, but surely it is for government to shape and not shirk the setting of priorities,” former Labour leader Ed Miliband told fellow MPs during the second reading of the Aria bill on 23 March.