Data Policy Digest

Gavin Freeguard

Gavin Freeguard

Hello, and welcome to our fifteenth Data Policy Digest, bringing you all the latest data and AI policy developments.

A short one this time, with very little going on.

Kidding!

(Late) April Fool!

I fully endorse this message. As will you by the end of this edition, I’m sure.

If there’s something we’ve missed, something you’re up to that you’d like us to include next time or you have any thoughts on how useful the Digest is or could be, please get in touch via gavin@connectedbydata.org. We’re on Twitter @ConnectedByData and @DataReform. You can also catch up on previous Digests.

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Data policy developments

Deeply DPDIB

Believed dead, but then resurrected…

Yes, it’s the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, which disappeared from parliament in September 2022 only to be reintroduced the following March. And it’s now made it to Lords Committee Stage, where the Lords will go through it line by line and the many suggested amendments in great detail. Though remember: because this is ‘grand committee’, amendments can only be made unanimously - expect a lot of them to be withdrawn following discussion, and to return in future stages…

In the first session (20 March), amendments debated covered definitions and identifiability of personal data… data controllers having a duty to identify when a user might be a child, extra protection for children… definition of scientific research… data communities… amendments all withdrawn.

Lord Tim Clement-Jones (Lib Dem) thanked the civil society organisations who had been in touch - 25 had called for the Bill to be dropped and he shared their concerns, thought we were in for a long journey and in need of several wet towels… Lord Steve Bassam (Labour) thought the Bill needed to go back to square one and many others in the committee were of like mind.

In the second session (25 March), amendments covered lawfulness of processing personal data and ‘recognised legitimate interests’… ‘democratic engagement’, the use of data by political parties and candidates… some ‘technical’ government amendments… vexatious and excessive subject access requests… the use of the open electoral register for marketing purposes… automated decision-making… data processing which convenes the Equality Act to be prohibited… government amendments accepted, all other amendments withdrawn.

We were delighted that oral evidence from Connected by Data’s Jeni Tennison was cited by Lord Clement-Jones.

In the third session (27 March), amendments covered automated decision-making… some ‘technical’ government amendments on wording, and on international transfers of law enforcement data… the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard… data protection by design and processors being accountable… logging of law enforcement processing… processing of data by Large Language Models… government amendments accepted, all other amendments withdrawn.

The next session will be on Monday 15 April, when the Lords return from recess.

A reminder we have a collection of resources on the Bill, including lots of civil society activity. As well as our briefing… there’s the Public Law Project’s open letter to government about mandatory transparency reporting for algorithms (see also, House of Lords must act now to stop Data Bill weakening rights)… the Open Rights Group with (THEIR WEBSITE’S CAPS, NOT MINE) THE IMPACT OF THE DATA PROTECTION AND DIGITAL INFORMATION BILL ON DATA USE FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES; from January, HOW A WEAKER DATA WATCHDOG IMPACTS YOU; UK DATA PROTECTION PROPOSALS JEOPARDISE ADEQUACY AGREEMENT WARNS EU COMMITTEE, and latest, BRIEFING: THE ICO ISN’T WORKING AND HOW PARLIAMENT CAN FIX IT (see also, thread)…

Ada, It’s time to strengthen data protection law for the AI era, and don’t forget other briefings… Big Brother Watch in the Big Issue (DWP faces ‘outrage’ and ‘paranoia’ if it continues plans to ‘spy’ on bank accounts), UnHerd (UK Government pushes for financial surveillance bill) and City AM (How bank spying powers are being snuck into government bills), as well as with their own briefing… a short briefing on amendments from the Open Data Institute… a briefing, Data Protection and Digital Information Bill: A threat to fair markets and open public services, by AWO for the Social Market Foundation…

In summary The ICO has also published a slightly updated view… ‘Snooping bank bill’ is how Politico’s Morning Financial Services UK describes it in a useful summary… The UK Digital Information Bill: Brexit dividend or data disaster? asks The Register… Pensioners say they should be exempt from government crackdown on fraudsters, reports the Express, eliciting a ministerial response…

Amendments Politico notes the Bill could ‘be hijacked by security hawks’, with Lord Bethell’s (Con) amendment on international data transfers potentially hitting TikTok… Bethell writes for ConservativeHome, The UK can be a global leader in prohibiting data transfers to countries without enforceable privacy laws… Lord Foster (Lib Dem) writes for PoliticsHome, Gamblers need more control of their data, not less… Government extends privacy protection to bequests made to the Conservative Party (Chris Pounder)…

Free the PAF I arguably memed the House of Lords into debating the Postcode Address File (James O’Malley)… Three thoughts from last week’s address data debate (Peter Wells, and thread)… Open addresses in the House of Lords – what happened? (Owen Boswarva)… Here’s looking at you Baroness Kidron is one of the authors of a new LSE report, The best interests of the child in the digital environment… Data and chips Bearing in mind the proposed changes to how political parties can use your data… what can a campaign in Uxbridge about fish and chips tell us about how candidates might use data?

Everything else Politico’s London Influence has a nice shout out to the vital tech scrutiny role of the Lords, our ‘anachronistic second chamber’ here on utterly modern and totally normal island… Lord Tim Clement-Jones has a new book out, Living with the Algorithm: Servant or Master?: AI Governance and Policy for the Future… the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law at the University of Cambridge have published the archive of the Article 29 working party (1997-2018), which advised European institutions on data protection and privacy… and trade expert Sam Lowe detects a shift in the US attitude towards GDPR.

As ever, if you’d like to get more involved in civil society efforts around DPDIB, please get in touch.

Bills, bills, bills

AI (Regulation) Bill No, not a late April fool. Such a Bill really exists! But it’s not a government one, as we’ve touched on before.

Conservative peer, Lord Holmes, has a private members’ bill (these tend not to become law) which had its second reading on 22 March. Holmes has blogged about his Bill - the Lords Library has a briefing, and Computer Weekly has a summary, Lord Holmes: UK cannot ‘wait and see’ to regulate AI. Responding for the government, Viscount Camrose recognised the ‘differing views’ on regulation and said the government thought its approach, ‘combining a principles-based framework, international leadership and voluntary measures on developers, is right for today, as it allows us to keep pace with rapid and uncertain advances in AI’. He also said the ‘new, multiagency advisory service known as the AI and digital hub’ being piloted by the regulators in the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum would launch in mid-May, a delay from March according to Politico.

Online Safety Act Ofcom has published information about its power to gather information relating to the death of a child - this remains the subject of some amendments to the Data Protection Bill, too… the regulator has also published its approach to categorising online service providers for the purposes of regulation, and the DSIT secretary of state has written back to them… there’s also been a fair amount of online discussion about a new book from psychologist and author, Jonathan Haidt, and the extent to which social media platforms are impacting children’s mental health - he’s responded to some reviews, while this thread from author Sam Freedman has elicited various responses. Timandra Harkness, meanwhile, has reviewed a new book from Pete Etchells, Unlocked: The Science of Screen Time, which takes a different view to Haidt.

Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill This is now in ping-pong (no, really - or ‘consideration of Lords amendments’ if you prefer, date tbc). The Lords reversed some of the government’s attempted changes - expect the government to do something about that when it arrives back in the Commons.

Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill The Lords will consider Commons amendments on 23 April. Concerns from civil society and from industry were not taken on board by MPs at Third Reading.

Other Date is tbc for Commons Report Stage for the Automated Vehicles Bill.

AI got ‘rithm

Lots of international activity this month. Let’s start with Europe and the AI Act: Artificial Intelligence Act: MEPs adopt landmark law, says the European Parliament… the BBC describes it as the ‘world’s first comprehensive AI law’…

Chatham House says The EU’s new AI Act could have global impact… while Euractiv’s take is EU’s much-heralded AI Act agreed by EU Parliament – but serious human rights holes in law remain… and Sky News wonders what the impact on the UK might be…

Politico looked at the other big European development, a Council of Europe treaty, which it said was hanging by a thread… and Euractiv reported concerns from the European Data Protection Supervisor that it had ‘veered far from its original purpose’… while Belgium will host the EU-US Trade and Technology Council this week… and France has announced its organising team for the next AI Summit (which may have dropped ‘Safety’ from the title, though I may be reading too much into two tweets)…

The G7 Summit in Italy led to a Ministerial Declaration on deployment of AI and innovation… G7 nations to harness AI and innovation to drive growth and productivity, is how the UK government press released it… at the UN, General Assembly adopts landmark resolution on artificial intelligence… Marietje Schaake updates on the UN AI Advisory Body (we’ve also submitted something to their consultation, and the Royal Society have written up a workshop on The United Nations’ role in international AI governance)… in the US, Vice President Harris Announces OMB Policy to Advance Governance, Innovation, and Risk Management in Federal Agencies’ Use of Artificial Intelligence… Mozilla are among those welcoming the initiative, saying the US is leading by example… and in Taiwan, The moda hosts online citizens’ deliberative assembly for utilizing AI to promote information integrity (Taiwanese Government)…

Politico goes Inside the shadowy global battle to tame the world’s most dangerous technology… Wired notes Regulators Need AI Expertise. They Can’t Afford It… The Economist wonders How to define artificial general intelligence… and BBC Radio 4 asks How real is the existential threat from AI? and explores AI in education (as does Daisy Christodoulou, ‘AI’s attention deficit’)…

On democracy… British MPs fear we can’t stop election deepfakes. They’re right. (Politico)… Europe wields new tech law to protect EU election (Politico)… General election: How big a threat is AI and disinformation to elections in 2024? (IfG)… 3 months to save democracy: new AI election report published (University of Surrey)… Demos and UCL have a new report, Synthetic Politics: Preparing democracy for Generative AI, complete with launch event… AI: Google restricts Gemini chatbot election answers (BBC)… Tackling deepfakes ‘has turned into an arms race’ (BBC)… though Could artificial intelligence benefit democracy? (BBC)…

On deepfakes more generally… ‘IRL Fakes:’ Where People Pay for AI-Generated Porn of Normal People (404 Media)… ‘I was deepfaked by my best friend’ (BBC)…

If you’re worried we’re royally screwed… How Kate body-double conspiracy theory spread on social media (BBC)… Kate Middleton photo scandal shows Britain’s royals are flailing in the digital age (Politico)…

How AI is affecting different types of work… Uber Eats courier’s fight against AI bias shows justice under UK law is hard won (TechCrunch)… and especially the creative industries… ‘Journalists are feeding the AI hype machine’ (BBC)… How the news ecosystem might look like in the age of generative AI (Reuters Institute)… AI-generated cloud looms over Hollywood’s ‘Barbenheimer’ Oscars (FT)… AI-Generated Marilyn Monroe Chatbot Can Hold an Extended Conversation With ‘Realistic Emotions’ and Expressions, Company Claims (Variety)… A ChatGPT for Music Is Here. Inside Suno, the Startup Changing Everything (Rolling Stone)… AI-generated blues misses a human touch — and a metronome (The Verge)… Billie Eilish and Nicki Minaj want stop to ‘predatory’ music AI (BBC)… BBC develops AI plans and talks to Big Tech over archives access (FT)… AI is ‘garbage’ but remains an existential threat to publishers, best-selling novelist warns (Joanne Harris in the Telegraph)… Don’t use our books in your AI programs, publishers warn big tech (The Times)… ‘It’s very easy to steal someone’s voice’: how AI is affecting video game actors (The Guardian)…

On health… NHS AI test spots tiny cancers missed by doctors (BBC)… AI photos show people with secondary breast cancer their lost future (BBC)…

As for big tech… Meta’s push to build one AI model to power videos across platforms could be an oversight nightmare, experts warn (Fast Company)… How Big Tech is winning the AI talent war (FT)… Microsoft ignored safety problems with AI image generator, engineer complains (The Guardian)… Silicon Valley is pricing academics out of AI research (Washington Post)… Sam Altman rejoins OpenAI’s board after investigation into sudden firing (The Verge)… Key OpenAI Executive Played a Pivotal Role in Sam Altman’s Ouster (New York Times)… Elon Musk v OpenAI: tech giants are inciting existential fears to evade scrutiny (The Observer)… Navigating the Challenges and Opportunities of Synthetic Voices (OpenAI - OpenAI deems its voice cloning tool too risky for general release is how The Guardian reports it)… Worldcoin hit with another ban order in Europe citing risks to kids (TechCrunch)… Judge dismisses ‘vapid’ Elon Musk lawsuit against group that cataloged racist content on X (The Guardian)… Huge AI funding leads to hype and ‘grifting’, warns DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis (FT)… Taxi-driver’s son whose rivalry with an old friend will shape AI (The Times on Mustafa Suleyman and Demis Hassabis, now at Google and Microsoft respectively)… Amazon scrambles for its place in the AI race (The Verge)…

Is time running out?… TikTok is urging users to call Congress about a looming ban (The Verge)… Desperate TikTok lobbying effort backfires on Capitol Hill (BBC)… What to Know About the Bill That Could Get TikTok Banned in the U.S. (TIME)… TikTok’s troubles just got worse: The FTC could sue them, too (Politico)…

Meanwhile… Inside the Creation of the World’s Most Powerful Open Source AI Model (Wired)… Artificial Intelligence: can it be regulated? asks the COO of Faculty… their CEO writes in City AM with A plea for a little more nuance in AI discourse… Godfather Part 1… Godfather Part 2…

Some journal-ism… Re-evaluating GPT-4’s bar exam performance (Artificial Intelligence and Law)… Scientific Journals Are Publishing Papers With AI-Generated Text (404 Media)… ChatGPT “contamination”: estimating the prevalence of LLMs in the scholarly literature (Andrew Gray)…

And… Demis Hassabis played chess against shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves… Jon Stewart On The False Promises of AI (The Daily Show)… while NYC’s AI Chatbot Tells Businesses to Break the Law (The Markup)… and Malfunctioning NYC AI Chatbot Still Active Despite Widespread Evidence It’s Encouraging Illegal Behavior (The Markup).

DSIT up and take notice

The Prime Minister has awarded DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis a knighthood and government AI safety stars/tsars Matt Clifford and Ian Hogarth CBEs for services to AI, in an honours list dominated by political appointments, loudly and proudly snuck out with no fanfare late on Maundy Thursday. The Guardian’s Marina Hyde has an even unkinder take.

As trailed last time, the National Audit Office has published its report on the Use of artificial intelligence in government (well worth a read, but in short: government needs to clarify responsibilities and accountabilities and sort out the basics - skills, legacy systems, data sharing - first). Reform (AI is supposed to automate paperwork, not create more), Ada and Government Transformation magazine have takes. And as surely as night follows day, parliament’s Public Accounts Committee - whose work the NAO supports - has announced an inquiry, which you have until 3 May to submit evidence to.

There have been a fair few AI-related announcements, including… a new framework for ‘harness[ing] the power of AI to improve public project delivery’… the AI Safety Institute launching Twitter and LinkedIn accounts (h/t Politico London Playbook), the day before the UK & United States announce partnership on science of AI safety (complete with MoU)… Michelle Donelan is on the Politico podcast talking about that (and says the South Korean AI Safety Summit will be in may, the French one in January… Politico also reports a US/UK/EU gathering of safety institute folk in Brussels today)… Ofcom’s plan of work for 2024/25 including its strategic approach to AI… DSIT announced ’Thousands more to train in future tech like AI as government unveils over £1.1 billion package to skill-up UK’ (Public Technology have a write-up)… the department also published guidance for Responsible AI in Recruitment, the latest tool in its Responsible AI Toolkit… UKAuthority reported that i.AI and Citizens Advice develop AI assistant, which led me to a page on the i.AI website with more details of their projects (the Civic AI Observatory also has more)… while a new project from the Advanced Research and Invention Agency aims to ‘slash AI computing costs by a factor of 1,000’ (FT) and ’”redefine”’ computing’ (Public Technology).

Deputy PM Oliver Dowden made a statement to parliament about Chinese links to cyberattacks on UK politicians and voter data… at the Summit for Democracy in South Korea, he launched global push to protect elections from AI, misinformation (Reuters)… although many were quick to note the Tories’ own brush with electoral misinformation that week.

Our last Digest went to pixel just as DSIT secretary Michelle Donelan’s libel settlement came to light. She remains in post, but not before… Penny Mordaunt told parliament the public should be grateful for Michelle Donelan as she didn’t take a £16,000 redundancy payout when leaving a previous role (as education secretary for 35 hours)… Michelle Donelan: Science secretary apologises after false Hamas claims about academic led to taxpayers footing £15,000 libel bill (Sky News)… UK civil servant helped draft Michelle Donelan letter alleging extremism (FT)… said civil servant also being on the board of UKRI (Research Fortnight)… and Labour’s Peter Kyle called for answers…

Donelan gave a speech to techUK (see below for details of Peter Kyle’s own speech)… the Government Office for Science has done god’s work, producing a map of Scientific Advisory Committees/Councils and Arm’s Length Bodies associated with government departments… in Whitehall musical chairs, the former CEO of CDDO is new DG at MoJ (in something resembling English - former chief exec of the Central Digital and Data Office has moved over to the Ministry of Justice to lead service delivery transformation)… ‘Innovation will win out against increasing demand’, says departing Whitehall ops chief Alex Chisholm (Public Technology)… his replacement, Cat Little, spoke to former CDDO CEO Megan Lee Devlin about AI, among other things (Civil Service World)… AI is one of the subjects the civil service chief people officer spoke to CSW about… the Geospatial Commission is hiring a new director… Oflog chair Amyas Morse steps down due to illness (CSW)… UK government downgrades role of tech envoy to Silicon Valley (Politico)…

In other news, Government trebles number of services using One Login (CSW)… One Login: GDS convenes privacy and inclusion advisors (Public Technology)… the Government has published its ‘principles of engagement’ (coverage has focused mainly on the extremism angle)… Government guidance urges procurement pros to be on lookout for use of AI in contract bids (Public Technology)… Inquiry to examine how Scottish ministers use WhatsApp (BBC)…

Also from DSIT… New Public Sector Geospatial Agreement data will help speed up emergency response times… Quantum leap for UK and Germany science and research links… Flexible AI Upskilling Fund pilot: Expression of Interest… Working for DSIT… UK artificial intelligence sectoral analysis survey… Geospatial Commission joins UK Centre for Seabed Mapping… new analysis of The UK Data Driven Market… British regions buck trend of global investment drop in science and tech… Geospatial Commission-funded tool demonstrates potential for AI to transform decisions about land use… UK and Ontario to share knowledge and technology behind the National Underground Asset Register… Major funding unveiled for cutting-edge research tools that could halt future pandemics and protect the planet… an update to The Rose Book: Knowledge asset management in government… results of a consultation on a National academy for the mathematical sciences: proposed focus and objectives…

In official statistics land, the government finally published the Lievesley Review into the UK Statistics Authority and its own response… covered as UKSA review warns of ‘systemic, often cultural barriers’ to departments sharing data (CSW) and Statistics society urges Cabinet Office to clarify ‘troubling’ comments (CSW)… also, Local data at your fingertips (ONS)… How do we use statistics in everyday life? (OSR)… Treasury publishes ‘most incomplete’ Whole of Government Accounts yet (CSW)… UK statisticians threaten strike action over back-to-office mandate (FT)…

The Global Government Forum hosted Innovation 2024 - ‘Don’t digitise a bad process’ was one of the key takeaways - and has started publishing some summaries of its 2023 Government Digital Summit… another recent event had UK experts talk driving a data-sharing culture in the public sector (GGF)…

And finally… Politico took a look at DSIT’s latest hospitality data to see who ministers had met in the run up to autumn’s AI Safety Summit, listing a lengthy line-up of tech companies and noting equivalent meetings with civil society were:

Scarce… A DSIT spokesperson said any suggest[ion] civil society missed out would be “incorrect.” “The government engaged widely with civil society groups in the build up to the AI Safety Summit” and “is committed to hearing insights from a broad range of individuals and organisations who have the expertise to help drive forward discussions on AI safety.”

*looks to camera, raises eyebrow *

Parly-vous data?

Parliament sits next on Monday 15 April. Plenty of time to catch up on the last few weeks - and even put yourself forward for a new job, as Parliament seeks £140k digital chief to lead three-year tech strategy (Public Technology).

Over the last few weeks… in the Commons, on 12 March PACAC heard from Denise Lievesley (and the Cabinet Office) about her review of the UK Statistics Authority… the same day, the education select committee took evidence on the OSA and screen time and there was a Ten Minute Rule Bill on giving people free access to certain public sector websites… on 13 March, the transport select committee heard more evidence as part of their future of transport data inquiry… on 19 March, the defence select committee continued its defence AI capabilities inquiry… on 26 March, there was a written ministerial statement on data quality affecting ‘healthy start’ statistics… and on 28 March, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Meg Hillier, published her annual report, covering subjects including legacy IT and a lack of data on housing…

In the Lords… on 12 March, the Science and Tech committee quizzed DSIT’s Michelle Donelan and Sarah Munby… on 19 March, Lord Blunkett asked a question about electronic payment devices, accessibility and regulation… the European Affairs select committee kicked off a new inquiry on ‘data adequacy and its implications for the UK-EU relationship’ with an oral evidence session on 26 March… inquiries on the future of news (communications and digital committee) and electronic border management systems (justice and home affairs committee) continue… and on 18 March, the joint committee on National Security Strategy heard from the University of Nottingham, Meta, the Turing, Ofcom, the FT and the Electoral Commission with their first oral evidence session on Defending Democracy.

Coming up in the Commons… there are various departmental question times to look forward to. DSIT questions are on Wednesday 17 April - questions down to be answered include AI regulation, AI in the NHS, protecting personal data, digital inclusion, semiconductors and misinformation (it’s always interesting to see what Tory MPs have put down, as they may be designed to allow the government to talk about certain topics). After that, it’s DCMS questions on Thursday 18 April (there’s nothing down on data and AI, though topical questions could touch on those issues) and Cabinet Office on Thursday 25 April… there are some relevant private members’ bills (unlikely to go anywhere in legislative terms), including on Public Sector Website Impersonation (Labour’s John Spellar), Online Services (Cancellation) (Natalie Elphicke, Conservative) and Public Sector Websites (Data Charges) (Simon Lightwood, Labour)… and on 16 April, there are Westminster Hall debates on ‘Citizen’s assemblies and local democracy’ and ‘Digital skills and careers’ which might be of interest.

In the Lords, the Lords Communications and Digital Committee are expecting a government response to their report on LLMs by 2 April (government responses to select committees are often late)… the data adequacy inquiry takes oral evidence on 16 April, and then again on 23 and 30 April… on 19 April, their lordships debate the report from the Artificial Intelligence in Weapon Systems Committee, ‘Proceed with Caution: Artificial Intelligence in Weapon Systems’ (the government has responded to that one)… and on 24 April, Baroness Fox (non-affiliated) has a question on ‘Data collection in the criminal justice system to ensure consistency of crime statistics across England and Wales’.

Labour movement

Keir Starmer launched Labour’s local election campaign (2 May) with a speech - our world ‘needs an end to politics that is done to communities, not with them’ was one line that jumped out for those of us who care about public participation in these things.

A lot of Labour coverage over the past few weeks has focused on how a Labour government might operate. The Times reported that might involve a very small executive Cabinet and mission boards, similar to ideas in the Institute for Government’s Commission into the Centre of Government (see also their launch event and Civil Service World, Starmer would create policy delivery unit and slimmed-down ‘executive cabinet’). There are also reports that Starmer’s No. 2 Angela Rayner Seeks New Power Base in Future Labour Government (Bloomberg) and Labour plans to axe hereditary peers in UK House of Lords (FT). There have also been various pieces on The battle for Keir Starmer’s soul including over tech policy (New Statesman, includes tech policy, see also A think tank for the age of Starmer); on the power of Starmer chief of staff Sue Gray (Politico, the New Statesman and The Spectator all got in on that action); and reports that no spring election could lead to the manifesto being reopened.

Over to Labour’s tech team… Labour will use AI to grow the economy by 0.5%, says shadow tech secretary Peter Kyle, says Computer Weekly about his techUK speech… Labour considers ‘nudification’ ban and cross-party pledge on AI deepfakes (The Observer), apparently endorsed by Kyle…

On health, medConfidential were unimpressed by shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, attacking those concerned about the use of medical data… he was in The Times - Wes Streeting: Under Labour, technology could transform the NHS - ahead of a speech at Wired Health (the Telegraph also has a write-up)… on disinformation, Labour ‘will use maths lessons to debunk conspiracy theories’ (The Times) and Scientists for Labour have a new report on Deepfakes, Elections and National Security… former Cabinet minister, Lord Blunkett, is calling on Keir Starmer to Bring back ID cards to tackle migrant crisis (The Times)… and hoping-to-be-next-chancellor, Rachel Reeves, met Tim Berners-Lee and the Web Foundation.

In Wales, Vaughan Gething won the leadership contest and is the new First Minister - the BBC takes a look at his new Cabinet.

And in other opposition news, there’s a new Lib Dem Digital group, launched at their spring conference.

In brief

What we’ve been up to

What everyone else has been up to

Events

Good reads

And finally:

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