Calls to halt UK Palantir contracts grow amid ‘lack of transparency’ over deals

Labour should halt public contracts with the US tech company Palantir, opposition politicians have said, amid growing concern at the lack of government transparency over dealings with the company and Peter Mandelson.Since 2023, Palantir has secured more than £500m in contracts with the NHS and the Ministry of Defence (MoD), while it employed Global Counsel, the lobbying firm founded by Mandelson. Emails released by the US Department of Justice show Mandelson sought help from Jeffrey Epstein to find “rich individuals” as clients.The government has for months blocked attempts by MPs and campaigners to scrutinise Palantir’s deals. Requests for information about meetings between the company’s leadership with Keir Starmer and the former prime minister Boris Johnson were among those that have been refused.With Palantir now expanding its AI-powered technology into British policing, the government is facing calls to freeze its involvement with the Denver-based company, which was co-founded by the Donald Trump-backing billionaire Peter Thiel, who also had a relationship with Epstein. It also provides its military technology to the Israel Defense Forces and to Trump’s ICE immigration crackdown.On Thursday, Martin Wrigley MP, a Liberal Democrat member of the Commons technology select committee, called for a parliamentary debate on “the suitability of Palantir” as a supplier to critical national infrastructure. Wrigley told the Guardian: “I would halt any further contracts with Palantir until we have a clear picture of how these [existing contracts] came about.”The Green party leader, Zack Polanski, wrote to the health secretary, Wes Streeting, urging him to break a £330m contract between Palantir and the NHS. The deal to run a “federated data platform” has faced opposition from the British Medical Association, with some NHS trusts having raising doubts about its effectiveness.Polanski said Palantir “has absolutely no place in the NHS, looking after patients’ personal data … I understand there is a break clause in the contract this year and I would urge you not to renew the contract of such a disreputable corporation”.A spokesperson for Palantir said its “software is helping to deliver better public services in the UK. That includes delivering more NHS operations, helping Royal Navy ships to stay at sea for longer and helping the police to tackle domestic violence”.On Wednesday, Starmer announced plans to release documents relating to Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US, with exemptions for material that may affect national security and international relations.The government has previously blocked several attempts to use freedom of information laws to investigate Mandelson’s appointment and Palantir’s contracts. In June, Downing Street rejected a request from the fair tech campaign Foxglove to publish briefings to Starmer before his visit with Mandelson to a Palantir showroom in Washington DC, where they met the tech company’s chief executive, Alex Karp. Palantir signed a £241m deal with the MoD last month.Alex Karp. An FoI request to see briefings to Starmer before his meeting with the tech company’s chief executive were rejected. Photograph: Gian Ehrenzeller/EPAThe visit did not appear in the prime minister’s register of visits and Downing Street rejected an FoI request. In October, Downing Street responded to a similar request saying there were no briefings or minutes “as this was not a formal meeting”.A government spokesperson said: “Ministers engage with a range of companies as part of their international travel and Palantir is a longstanding investor in the UK.”In July, the Foreign Office was asked by Democracy for Sale, an investigative newsletter, for information about Mandelson’s declaration of interest before his appointment as ambassador. It also wanted to see any official assessment of potential conflicts of interest. Again the government refused, on this occasion citing “prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs”.It admitted there could be “a strong public interest in understanding if any conflicts of interest may impede his work on behalf of [the government]”, but said release would undermine confidentiality which is supposed to encourage senior officials to “provide the fullest possible disclosure”. Starmer this week told parliament Mandelson “lied repeatedly to my team when asked about his relationship with Epstein, before and during his tenure as ambassador”.The information commissioner is now investigating the Foreign Office refusal as well as another refusal by the Department of Health and Social Care in June to release copies of official reports about Palantir’s NHS federated data platform. It withheld these documents on the grounds confidentiality was needed to allow the formulation of government policy.In December the MoD refused to release a partnership agreement signed by the defence secretary, John Healey, and Palantir’s Karp in London, which preceded last month’s £241m contract with Palantir. The MoD said a release could compromise the defence of the UK and prejudice the MoD’s ability to secure value for money from contractors.Wrigley said: “The lack of transparency in the deals with Palantir is concerning. It is essential that we have full transparency before any more back-room deals are struck. Palantir must prove its value in operational conditions, and that it isn’t just slick salesman’s promises.”