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Sadiq Khan Moves to Block Met Police Deal With Palantir

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https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/28/sadiq-khan-moves-to-block-met-police-deal-with-palantir/

Tita Barros/Reuters

London mayor speaks out against ‘firms who act contrary to London’s values’.

Sadiq Khan could block the Metropolitan Police from signing a huge AI contract with tech giant Palantir, citing concerns about spending public money on “firms who act contrary to London’s values”.

Palantir, which provides software to ICE and the Israeli military, showcased its systems to Scotland Yard intelligence officers last month, hoping to land a contract worth tens of millions of pounds, the Guardian reported. 

While the Met has its own procurement team, the London mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime must sign off any contract worth over £500,000, giving Khan some leverage over the deal. 

A spokesperson for the mayor said: “We can’t comment on live procurement processes. However, as a general point the mayor would have concerns about using public money to support firms who act contrary to London’s values.”

Palantir, which was founded by US billionaire Peter Thiel, currently holds more than £600m of contracts with public bodies in the UK. Those include a £240m deal with the Ministry of Defence, a £330m contract with the NHS, and agreements with various city councils and local police forces. 

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Article continues at https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/28/sadiq-khan-moves-to-block-met-police-deal-with-palantir/

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Palantir recruits at least 32 public officials, including leaders of AI strategy from MoD and NHS

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/palantir-recruits-least-32-public-officials-including-leaders-ai-strategy-mod-and-nhs

 Defence Secretary John Healey (left) and the CEO of software company Palantir Technologies Alex Karp sign a £1.5 billion investment, at Wellington Conference Room, Horse Guards, Whitehall, London, September 18, 2025

THE “revolving door” between US tech firm Palantir and the British government raises serious questions about public contracts, campaigners warned today.

Dozens of experienced British public officials including the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and NHS’s AI chiefs have joined the controversial US tech firm Palantir since they left their government positions, a new investigation by the Nerve revealed.

At least 32 officials, former ministers, intelligence service chiefs and peers have taken up roles in the company which has been awarded £670 million in government contracts.

This included the former MoD senior official on AI, Laurence Lee, who also co-authored the military’s strategy document on the new technology.

Mr Lee has since become a senior adviser to Palantir CEO Alex Karp on “geostrategy.”

NHS England’s former director of AI, Indra Joshi, became Palantir’s director of health, research and AI in 2022 before leaving in 2024.

Four members of the House of Lords have also been on Palantir’s payroll, including the former chair of the select committee on science and technology.

On top of the previously reported relationship between the disgraced former US ambassador Peter Mandelson and Palantir, other peers who offered their expertise to the US tech firm include former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson and former special adviser to Gordon Brown, John Woodcock.

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/palantir-recruits-least-32-public-officials-including-leaders-ai-strategy-mod-and-nhs

Being Assassinated in Your Home by a Killer Robot Sent by a Fascist State Is No Longer Science Fiction

Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn't know anything about democracy.
Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn’t know anything about democracy.
Continue ReadingPalantir recruits at least 32 public officials, including leaders of AI strategy from MoD and NHS

Palantir manifesto described as ‘ramblings of a supervillain’ amid UK contract fears

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https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/21/palantir-manifesto-uk-contract-fears-mps

Alarm caused by posts of Alex Karp, tech firm’s CEO, championing US military dominance and of AI weapons

The US spy tech company Palantir published a manifesto extolling the benefits of American power and implying some cultures are inferior to others – in what MPs have called “a parody of a RoboCop film” and “the ramblings of a supervillain”.

“Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive,” wrote Palantir in a 22-point post on X over the weekend, which also called for an end to the “postwar neutering” of Germany and Japan.

The post exhorted the US to reinstate a military draft, saying that “free and democratic societies” need “hard power” in order to prevail.

It also predicted a future dominated by autonomous weapons: “The question is not whether A.I. weapons will be built; it is who will build them and for what purpose. Our adversaries will not pause to indulge in theatrical debates about the merits of developing technologies with critical military and national security applications. They will proceed.”

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It led to criticism from several MPs, who said that it raised yet more questions about the UK’s portfolio of contracts with the company. Palantir has built up more than £500m in contracts in Britain, including a £330m contract with the NHS, as well as deals with the police and Ministry of Defence. These deals have come in for increasing criticism.

“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,” said Martin Wrigley, a Liberal Democrat MP who is a member of the commons science and technology select committee.

“Either way it shows that the company’s ethos is entirely unsuited to working on UK government projects involving citizens’ most sensitive private data.”

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The original article is at https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/21/palantir-manifesto-uk-contract-fears-mps

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Private firms providing services to NHS made £1.6bn profit in two years, research finds

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/apr/13/private-companies-nhs-services-profit-chpi-research

The profits would be enough to pay for 9,178 doctors or 19,428 nurses during the period. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

[Guardian] Exclusive: MPs say profit-making levels in England are ‘scandalous’ and call for cap on amount private companies can make from NHS

Private firms providing services to the NHS including healthcare and consultancy have made £1.6bn in profits over the last two years, research reveals.

The findings – on the basis of contracts worth £12bn – have prompted claims of “scandalous” profiteering, concern that the health service is being “taken for a ride” and calls for ministers to impose a cap on maximum profit levels.

The £1.6bn in profits made in 2023-24 and 2024-25 would have been enough to pay for 9,178 doctors or 19,428 nurses during that time, according to the Centre for Health and the Public Interest.

Its findings are based on analysis of NHS contracts in England, with 760 private firms providing services including diagnostic tests such as CT scans to patients, and treatments including hip and knee replacements, and for skin problems and mental health conditions.

The thinktank found:

  • £2bn of the £12bn of contracts went to firms with owners based outside the UK.
  • £533m of that £2bn went to companies owned by people living in tax havens such as Jersey and the Cayman Islands.
  • Firms, especially those owned by private equity outfits, used £353m of their £12bn NHS income to pay interest on debts.

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Original article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/apr/13/private-companies-nhs-services-profit-chpi-research

Continue ReadingPrivate firms providing services to NHS made £1.6bn profit in two years, research finds

NHS to miss targets for cutting A&E wait times and performance in England

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/29/nhs-miss-targets-wait-times-performance-england-wes-streeting

Wes Streeting visiting Trafford general hospital in Manchester in February. The health secretary said last week the NHS was on track to reduce waiting times by the end of the parliament in 2029. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA

Exclusive: Health secretary’s pledges in doubt as analysis shows health service will not deliver key improvements

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The health service in England will not deliver a series of milestone improvements in its performance that ministers demanded it achieve by the time the fiscal year ends on Tuesday, a Guardian analysis of the NHS’s most recent data has found.

The lack of progress raises questions about pledges made last week by Wes Streeting, the health secretary, to get key waiting times back on track by the end of the parliament in 2029.

The findings will concern Keir Starmer, the prime minister, given Labour’s commitment to “get the NHS back on its feet” and the public’s strong desire to see an end to the routinely long waits for care that crept in from 2015.

The gloomy picture on waiting times also comes despite the NHS handing hospitals an extra £120m in recent weeks to fund a pre-deadline “elective sprint” – of extra appointments and more operations – intended to bolster its chances of delivering the necessary improvements by 31 March.

Streeting has repeatedly promised to ensure that 92% of people waiting for non-urgent hospital care such as appointments and operations get it within 18 weeks by 2029. However, the NHS only saw 61.5% of patents within 18 weeks in January. That was up on its 58.9% performance in January 2025 but still too low to hit the 65% year-end target for 2025-26.

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/29/nhs-miss-targets-wait-times-performance-england-wes-streeting

Continue ReadingNHS to miss targets for cutting A&E wait times and performance in England