Tech Minister Peter Kyle backs 'databanks' to help families connect at Christmas

Mr Kyle also told the Mirror he'd be keen to meet with Elon Musk and says the erratic tech billionaire should "command respect"

Tech minister Peter Kyle has given his backing to a scheme distributing free data sim cards to struggling families so they can connect over Christmas.

It’s one of a series of schemes being pioneered as part of Sunderland’s ‘Smart City’ programme.

Dozens of ‘data banks’ have launched over the last 18 months - with a target of 50 by the end of 2025.

"I think the rest of the UK will shortly be following up here to listen, learn and then get cracking to make sure that everyone from around the country can benefit from this kind of ambition," Mr Kyle told the Mirror.

"For me, technology is all about people. It's really important to tell the human stories behind what technology is capable of.

“And the most obvious one and the most touching one is when you see families who are coming together with video and FaceTime and other technologies.

“It means the world not just to people living later in life to see their children and grandchildren, but to live for themselves. Like, this is the most human thing."

Mr Kyle is overseeing a reorganisation of the government’s digital services to ensure innovation is spread across the whole country.

“What we've done is consolidated digital services from different parts of government to create one extremely powerful, potent and capable force, which we're calling the digital centre of government,” he said.

“And that resource will be able to match some of the capabilities of private sector tech companies.”

One improvement that will be welcomed by many is “One Login” - a project to bring all government services under a single username and password.

He said: “Most people would require 111 separate logins and passwords to access the full range of government services, and we’re getting that down month by month.

"As we move into next year, you will increasingly see government put closer and closer to the where people access the rest of their lives these days, which is on their phones, on their laptops and in the places where they need government to be. And currently it couldn't be further away.”

Mr Kyle also told the Sunday Mirror he’s keen to meet with Elon Musk - and says the erratic tech billionaire should "command respect".

Mr Musk has made a number of noisy interventions in British politics on Twitter since his row with Keir Starmer during the summer's far-right riots.

But Mr Kyle told the Mirror: "When the opportunity arises I certainly look forward to to talking with him. I think with anyone who cares about technology as I do, anyone that cares about harnessing the best bit of innovation and deploying in the public good as I do, I would, of course, be interested in talking with him."