Sovereignty is whatever Microsoft says it is...

This week the House of Commons Library published a fresh briefing on digital sovereignty. That is a useful sign. Once a subject gets its own parliamentary research paper, it has escaped the policy nerd enclosure and entered the part of government that writes talking points, briefings, and eventually procurement rules.

At the same time, Microsoft was busy hosting a Digital Sovereignty Summit to explain, with a straight face, why sovereignty is best delivered by one of the largest American technology companies on Earth. Europe, meanwhile, is still arguing about how to stop hyperscalers from redefining sovereignty to mean "our cloud, but with a local sticker on it."

So this week is a good one for a simple question. If you want software that is actually British owned, not merely British marketed, what can you buy?