ARIA: Scoping Our Planet Programme

Debate between Lord Vallance of Balham and Lord McFall of Alcluith

Tuesday 8th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

I will not get into whether it was or was not that, but I say again that we have no plans to bring ARIA under the Freedom of Information Act, which I think is important. If we go back to the origins of ARPA—the organisation in the US that led to DARPA, IARPA and many other such organisations on which ARIA is based—its originators in the 1950s and 1960s said that the reason no other country had managed to emulate that successful programme was because they kept everything on too short a leash. We should not make that mistake.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord McFall of Alcluith)]

Second Oral Question.