Labour members, health staff and citizens rally against a £330m Palantir contract, highlighting surveillance links and political connections.
The Labour Party conference in Liverpool has become a stage for a coordinated push to terminate the £330m NHS contract awarded to US data-analytics firm Palantir. Delegates argue that the agreement, which underpins a new federated data platform for health services, jeopardises patient confidentiality and aligns the British health system with a company whose résumé includes military targeting and mass-surveillance tools.
At the same event, former deputy leader Tom Watson announced his appointment as senior vice-president of Palantir, a move that critics say exemplifies the revolving-door between Westminster and private-sector tech. Watson, long known for exposing surveillance abuses, described the firm as “the most interesting on the planet,” a comment that has sparked fresh doubts about his motivations.
Palantir’s co-founders – Peter Thiel and Alex Karp – have publicly framed the company’s work as a means to “scare enemies and on occasion kill them,” and its software is already employed in ICE raids in the United States and civilian monitoring in Gaza.
Political ties and lobbying pressure
Watson is not joining Palantir in isolation. Over thirty former UK officials have already taken roles at the company, many of whom previously held senior positions in government, defence or intelligence. Peter Mandelson’s former lobbying outfit, Global Counsel, listed Palantir as a client, and Mandelson himself visited the firm’s Washington office in 2025 alongside Labour leader Keir Starmer. The Ministry of Defence has also signed a strategic partnership with Palantir, extending the firm’s reach into UK security infrastructure. Existing regulations allow former ministers to take private sector jobs for two years after leaving office, a rule that carries no statutory penalty, meaning the practice remains legal despite public unease.
Beyond the high-profile appointments, the contract itself has drawn scrutiny from the Health and Social Care Committee, which in July suggested that ministers could invoke a February break clause if doubts about data security persisted. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats and Labour have both seen a surge in large private donations – 72 % of £1m-plus gifts since 2001 were recorded after – fueling perceptions of an “integrity gap” between elected officials and the interests they are meant to safeguard.
Grassroots opposition in east London
While parliamentary debates swirl, local campaigners around Barts Health NHS Trust have taken the fight to the streets. On 9 September, demonstrators assembled outside Whipps Cross Hospital, demanding that the Trust pressure NHS England to scrap the Palantir deal. The protest coincided with a meeting of Trust officials who oversee the contract’s implementation. Dr Juliette Brown, a consultant psychiatrist, warned that Palantir’s corporate values clash with the founding principles of the NHS, calling the partnership “completely counter to our ethos of universal care and privacy“.
The mobilisation is part of a broader digital campaign launched by the Good Law Project and Just Treatment. By entering a postcode, citizens receive an automated email urging their local NHS provider to reject Palantir. To date, more than 80 000 emails have been dispatched, 2 000 individuals have signed a petition, and 500 staff members and patients added their names in May. Wayne Farah, a long-time NHS board director, summed up the sentiment: “Palantir is not all-seeing nor indestructible, but it will not disappear unless we collectively say no.”
Barts Health’s spokesperson reiterated the Trust’s commitment to patient confidentiality, noting that a full data-protection review was conducted before the rollout of the Care Co-ordination Solution. The Trust also promised to keep listening to community concerns while maintaining safe and effective care delivery. A further public demonstration titled “No Palantir in the NHS” is scheduled for 1 October outside the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, signalling that pressure will continue to mount.
Both the parliamentary and community fronts underline a growing mistrust of a contract that links the UK’s health data infrastructure with a company whose global portfolio includes surveillance of civilians, facial-recognition pilots, and tools used by immigration enforcement. As the Labour conference draws to a close, delegates are expected to vote on a resolution urging the government to invoke the break clause and cancel the £330m agreement, while activists on the ground prepare for another wave of protests. The outcome will determine whether public health data remains under British control or becomes part of Palantir’s expanding global surveillance network.
