Mandelson’s links with US tech firm Palantir must be fully exposed, campaigners warn | Peter Mandelson
Peter Mandelson’s relationship with US tech company Palantir must be disclosed to full public transparency, campaigners have said, amid fears he may have leaked more sensitive information than claimed in emails to Jeffrey Epstein.
Palantir, a $300bn startup that provides military technology to the Israel Defense Forces and AI-powered deportation services targeting Donald Trump’s ICE units, has contracts worth more than £500m with the UK government. Global Counsel, a lobbying firm that Mandelson co-founded and partially owns, also works for Palantir.
In February 2025, shortly after Mandelson became US ambassador, cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald was asked to disclose information about Mandelson’s role when the British embassy arranged for Keir Starmer to visit Palantir’s showroom in Washington DC.
Mandelson and Starmer met the company’s chief executive, Alex Karp, and were shown the company’s military technology. Seven months later, Karp signed a strategic partnership with UK defense secretary John Healey, and in January the Ministry of Defense (MoD) signed a £241 million, three-year contract with Palantir to “enhance military AI and innovation”.
Foxglove, a fair technology campaign group, has led calls for the Cabinet Office to disclose information about Mandelson’s involvement in negotiating Palantir’s contracts.
Conservative MP and shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart also called on Wormald to review Palantir’s latest MoD contract “given the allegations that have come to light about Mandelson’s conduct”.
Starmer’s meeting with Palantir not included in prime minister’s report visit record This was only acknowledged in subsequent statements, Burghart said. He said Palantir’s Ministry of Defense contract was awarded “by direct tender” without competition and asked the cabinet secretary to check if there were “other such contracts, other undisclosed meetings”.
The calls for transparency came after it was revealed that Mandelson had passed to Epstein highly sensitive information he received in 2009 as trade secretary under Gordon Brown, including the government’s response to the global financial crisis. Epstein was sentenced to prison in 2008 for child sex crimes but was able to continue working and Mandelson remained in contact with him.
Donald Campbell, Foxglove’s director of advocacy, told Wormald in a letter sent on Wednesday: “Given that Lord Mandelson is currently facing investigation for allegedly leaking ‘sensitive information’ to Jeffrey Epstein, we believe it is important to examine whether similar behavior has occurred elsewhere.”
Speaking in Parliament, former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn called for an independent investigation into the Mandelson affair, describing a “gilded network of cronies around Mandelson where favors are being exchanged, contracts are apparently being awarded, this terrible Palantir company is trying to take over our NHS, apparently at the behest of Mandelson and others”.
Palantir’s contracts with the UK government have caused controversy. The British Medical Association last week said doctors could refuse to use Palantir’s £340 million NHS federated data platform in some cases in protest at the tech company’s role in facilitating ICE activities in the US.
Palantir was co-founded by Trump-supporting billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel. Emails released by the Justice Department suggest that Epstein also had a relationship with Thiel.
Chi Onwurah, chairman of the science and technology committee, said: “We have raised questions about Palantir’s public sector contracts, how and why they came about, and whether the UK should be reliant on large, US-based providers. We will publish our findings shortly, but it is clear that the government needs to prioritize greater sovereign capacity in emerging technologies and review its dependence on these firms.”
Although Mandelson resigned as a director of Global Counsel in May 2024, he continued to retain his shares in the consultancy, according to Companies House records.
“We need the full picture of Mandelson’s involvement,” Campbell said. “Anything else risks causing irreparable damage to public trust.”
Palantir declined to comment. Mandelson, the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Defense have been approached for comment.
