MPs Grill Government Over £240m Palantir Defence Contract and Mandelson Links

During an urgent question session in the House of Commons, MPs from multiple parties scrutinised the government’s decision to award a £240 million defence contract to US data analytics firm Palantir. As shown in a video by PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE), lawmakers questioned why the contract was granted as a direct award without a competitive tender process, citing the Ministry of Defence’s reliance on a single supplier.

Several MPs expressed concern about the influence of Peter Mandelson, whose advisory firm Global Counsel has links to Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel. They questioned whether the Defence Secretary was aware of Mandelson’s commercial connections when approving the deal, and whether documents related to the contract and a Washington meeting involving Mandelson, the Prime Minister, and Palantir would be disclosed to the Intelligence and Security Committee.

Transparency regarding Palantir’s growing presence in UK public services was a recurring theme. MPs noted the company’s progression from a £1 NHS Covid contract to over £500 million in cumulative deals across health and defence. Concerns were raised about data sovereignty, with the minister affirming that UK defence data remains sovereign and under MOD control, and that it resides in the UK with contractual safeguards against unauthorised sharing.

Further scrutiny focused on Peter Thiel’s past association with Jeffrey Epstein, Palantir’s use of AI in military contexts, and its role in supplying technology to the Israeli Defence Forces. The minister defended the partnership as essential to national security and US-UK defence co-operation, confirmed he holds no Palantir shares, and reiterated the government’s commitment to transparency through compliance with a recent Humble Address for document publication.

Source: MPs demand answers on Palantir winning public contracts amid Mandelson scandal (Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvDF7Z18Anc)