Palantir Faces Backlash Over £600m UK Government Contracts

Public contracts with Palantir Technologies have become the subject of growing public opposition in the UK as more than 229,000 people have signed petitions calling for the government to terminate all agreements with the US software company.

The petitions target Palantir's work across the UK’s NHS, police forces and military. 

Matthew McGregor, Chief Executive Officer of 38 Degrees – the organisation leading the petition campaign – says the public does not want a controversial firm handling sensitive data. 

Opposition has intensified following attention on Palantir's contracts with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Donald Trump and with the Israeli military. 

Campaigners say these partnerships raise questions about the company's suitability for managing British citizens' private information.

Palantir's UK contract portfolio

According to public records, Palantir holds £600m (US$760m) worth of contracts with UK public bodies. The largest is a £330m ($418m) agreement with the NHS for data services.

The company's Foundry and Gotham platforms consolidate fragmented datasets into single searchable interfaces. 

Palantir states its NHS work has enabled 110,000 additional operations and a 6.8% increase in cancer diagnoses through the Federated Data Platform.

The Ministry of Defence has awarded Palantir a £240m (US$304m) contract for data integration, analytics and AI platforms. Ministry officials and Palantir executives have cited Project Hyperion as supporting Royal Navy vessel availability through predictive maintenance.

Palantir also works with Bedfordshire Police. Louis Mosley, Executive Vice President at Palantir, says the software identified more than 1,000 hidden at-risk domestic violence victims. 

According to a report by The Guardian, the company may be negotiating contracts with the Metropolitan Police and Scotland Yard for intelligence analysis.

Political opposition to NHS partnership

Zack Polanski, Leader of the Green Party, has called on Health Secretary Wes Streeting to end the NHS partnership with Palantir. 

Zack delivered a letter to Palantir stating: "I have today handed a letter to Palantir serving it notice to pack its bags and get the hell out of the NHS.

"This Trump-supporting military surveillance outfit has no place in Britain's most important institution. The NHS cares for patients and brings our country together. Palantir's most recent history is to actively aid and abet genocide in Gaza and to provide surveillance data for Trump's paramilitary ICE squads, currently causing death and mayhem on the streets of America.

"When Wes Streeting can take some time out from meeting his private health donors, he should cancel this contract right now. If he doesn't, my letter today to Palantir makes clear we will use every method at our disposal to force them out. Doctors have made clear they do not trust Palantir with patients' private data, and with its appalling track record, I am with the doctors."

Zack's statement follows concerns from medical professionals about patient data security.

Company manifesto sparks debate

Alex Karp, Chief Executive Officer of Palantir, and Nicholas Zamiska, Head of Corporate Affairs and Legal Counsel, recently published a 22-point manifesto on X. The document argues Silicon Valley owes a moral debt to the state.

The manifesto calls for tech firms to prioritise national defence over consumer applications. 

Karp and Zamiska wrote that AI-driven deterrence requires companies to build advanced weaponry to maintain Western geopolitical position.

The document also advocates for higher pay for doctors and teachers. The authors argue these professions should attract competitive salaries rather than relying on public service motivation. This could help recruit talent from the private sector to government roles.

Martin Wrigley, a Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament, responded to the manifesto in The Guardian: "Palantir's manifesto, which embraces AI state surveillance of citizens along with national service in the USA, is either a parody of a RoboCop film, or a disturbing narcissistic rant from an arrogant organisation.

"Either way it shows that the company's ethos is entirely unsuited to working on UK Government projects involving citizens' most sensitive private data."

About Palantir Technologies

Palantir Technologies builds data integration and analytics platforms for large organisations. Its three main products are Apollo, Foundry and Gotham.

The CIA's venture capital arm provided early funding to the company. Palantir initially focused on counter-terrorism and intelligence for the US government before expanding into commercial markets.

The company describes its approach as human-driven AI. Software assists experts in identifying patterns and making decisions in sectors including military logistics and public healthcare.