James Frith takes reins from Josh Simons, who quit even though he was cleared over journalist vetting scandal

Labour MP James Frith has taken over the ministerial roles held by Josh Simons after he resigned over his handling of a report on journalists while running a think tank.

Simons, who was the minister responsible for the UK government's efforts to introduce digital identity cards, was investigated by the Cabinet Office and then the prime minister's independent ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, over his previous role running the Labour Together think tank.

He had commissioned a report from US public affairs outfit APCO Worldwide on journalists who had written critical articles about undeclared donations to the organization, which included material about Sunday Times journalist Gabriel Pogrund's Jewish beliefs and possible links to Russia. He also passed a version of the report to GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre.

On February 28, Magnus said Simons had not breached the ministerial code. Simons resigned anyway, telling prime minister ...