Palantir’s UK boss criticises ‘ideological’ groups as ministers move to scrap NHS contract | Palantir

Palantir’s UK boss has urged the government not to bow to “ideologically motivated campaigners” as government ministers explore a way out of a £330 million NHS contract with the tech company.

Ministers have sought advice on triggering a break clause in Palantir’s deal to deliver the Federal Data Platform (FDP) amid questions over the company’s presence in the public sector.

FDP is an AI-powered data platform designed to connect disparate health information across the NHS; Palantir also has contracts with the Ministry of Defence, various police forces and the UK’s financial watchdog.

Louis Mosley, Palantir’s UK vice president, said: Times The government needs to resist calls to remove the company from NHS England’s data systems.

“It is good and normal practice to have a review clause in a contract. But what some ideologically motivated campaigners are proposing to happen will undermine patient care and prevent tackling some of the biggest challenges facing the NHS,” Mosley said.

“This would be a mistake. The clear evidence of delivery over the last two years is that our software is helping. It is expected to deliver benefits of £150 million by the end of the decade, representing a return of £5 for every pound spent.”

Finance Times On Sunday, it was reported that ministers were examining whether to trigger a break clause in the FDP agreement when it comes into force next year. According to the FT report, government officials argued that it was possible to transfer the operation of the FDP built by Palantir to another provider.

Palantir, named after the all-seeing orbs in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, is a US data analytics company that also works for the Israeli and US militaries and Donald Trump’s ICE operation. The BMA, which represents NHS doctors, said it had “long been opposed to Palantir’s involvement in the delivery of care and the use of patient data in the NHS”.

Health officials expressed fears that Palantir’s reputation would affect delivery of the FDP contract.

While the government has sought to avoid fueling speculation about the trigger clause, sources said there was a growing awareness that the Palantir issue and potential reputational risk went beyond the Labor left and the Greens, who have drawn criticism in the past.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care told the Guardian: “The NHS Unified Data Platform helps connect patient care, increase productivity, speed up cancer diagnosis and ensure thousands of additional patients can be treated every month by imposing strict requirements on data security and privacy.

“Every hospital trust and integrated care board has its own instance of an IT platform with full control over who has access.”

Sources close to health secretary Wes Streeting point to comments on the Guardian Politics Weekly podcast in which he was asked about ethnic issues surrounding Palantir’s involvement.

When asked if people were concerned about the deal with Palantir, given its history and the fact that it was founded by Peter Thiel, an influential figure on the American right, he said: “Yes… When you look at what Palantir leaders are saying in America, when you look at their political views and their perspectives… [Thiel] and some of Palantir bosses across the political spectrum in the UK were well to the right of even Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative party.”

But he added that Palantir does not see the patient data processed by its systems.

“The platform they give us to improve our systems, our performance, our intelligence, our fight against health inequalities, it’s all driven by us. Palantir doesn’t see our patient data. Now that I’m in government, I’m in an even better position to reassure myself and the public that that remains the case. One of the challenges remains.”

The number of NHS organizations using Palantir technology has increased from 118 to 151 since June; However, it is still below the 240 target as of the end of this year.

A leading Labor MP told the Guardian that Palantir is also starting to arrive on voters’ doorsteps.

Clive Lewis, representing Norwich South, said: “This is a secondary issue, not something like the NHS itself or the economy, but it’s remarkable that people are aware of it and talking about it.”

He said Palantir has become emblematic of the anxiety many voters feel about concerns about artificial intelligence and technological change.

“I also imagine there is an emerging awareness in Whitehall of how uniquely exposed Britain is in many ways, whether it is food security or data, so there will be people looking at things like whether it is the right thing to do to put a company like Palantir into our infrastructure.

“That’s obvious on defense, but it’s also reflected in health data. What was unthinkable 18 months to a year ago in terms of the US and our relationships with US companies is now very much on people’s minds.”