{"id":408521,"date":"2026-02-05T02:47:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T02:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/408521\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T02:47:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T02:47:07","slug":"mandelsons-links-with-us-tech-firm-palantir-must-be-fully-exposed-campaigners-warn-peter-mandelson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/408521\/","title":{"rendered":"Mandelson\u2019s links with US tech firm Palantir must be fully exposed, campaigners warn | Peter Mandelson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peter Mandelson\u2019s involvement with the US tech company Palantir must be exposed to full public transparency, campaigners have said, amid fears he may have leaked more sensitive information than is alleged in his emails to Jeffrey Epstein<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Palantir, a $300bn startup that provides military technology to the Israel Defense Forces and AI-powered deportation targeting for Donald Trump\u2019s ICE units, has UK government contracts worth more than \u00a3500m. Global Counsel, a lobbying company Mandelson co-founded and part-owns, also works for Palantir.<\/p>\n

The cabinet secretary, Sir Chris Wormald, is being urged to release information about Mandelson\u2019s role when the British embassy arranged for Keir Starmer<\/a> to visit Palantir\u2019s showroom in Washington DC in February 2025 shortly after Mandelson became ambassador to the US.<\/p>\n

Mandelson and Starmer met the company\u2019s chief executive Alex Karp and were shown the company\u2019s military technology. Karp signed a strategic partnership with the UK defence secretary, John Healey, seven months later and in January the Ministry of Defence<\/a> (MoD) signed a \u00a3241m three-year contract with Palantir to \u201cboost military AI and innovation\u201d.<\/p>\n

Foxglove, a fair tech campaign group, led calls for the Cabinet Office to release information relating to any involvement by Mandelson in the negotiation of Palantir\u2019s contracts.<\/p>\n

Alex Burghart, a Conservative MP and shadow chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, also urged Wormald to review Palantir\u2019s latest MoD contract \u201cgiven the allegations now coming to light about Mandelson\u2019s conduct\u201d.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s meeting with Palantir did not appear in the prime minister\u2019s register of visits<\/a> and was acknowledged only in subsequent disclosures, Burghart said. He said Palantir\u2019s MoD contract \u201cwas granted by direct award\u201d \u2013 without competition \u2013 and asked that the cabinet secretary check there were \u201cno other such contracts, no other such undisclosed meetings\u201d.<\/p>\n

Calls for transparency came after Mandelson was apparently shown to have forwarded to Epstein highly sensitive information<\/a> he received as business secretary under Gordon Brown in 2009, including government responses to the global financial crisis. Epstein received a prison sentence for child sex offences in 2008 but was able to keep working and Mandelson stayed in contact with him.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn light of Lord Mandelson now facing investigation for allegedly leaking \u2018sensitive information\u2019 to Jeffrey Epstein, we believe it is important to examine whether similar behaviour took place elsewhere,\u201d Donald Campbell, the director of advocacy at Foxglove, told Wormald in a letter sent on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Speaking in parliament, the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn<\/a> called for an independent inquiry into the wider Mandelson affair and described \u201ca gilded friendly web\u201d around Mandelson \u201cunder which favours were done, contracts apparently awarded, this ghastly company Palantir trying to get hold of our National Health Service apparently at the behest of Mandelson and others\u201d.<\/p>\n

Palantir\u2019s contracts with the UK government have caused controversy. The British Medical Association said last week that doctors could refuse to use Palantir\u2019s \u00a3340m NHS federated data platform in some cases, in protest over the tech company\u2019s role in facilitating ICE activity in the US.<\/p>\n

Palantir was co-founded by the billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel who has supported Trump. Emails released by the Ministry of Justice suggest that Epstein also had a relationship with Thiel.<\/p>\n

Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, said in a letter to the health secretary, Wes Streeting: \u201cThere are worrying questions to answer about his role in the government\u2019s deal with Palantir \u2013 a spy-tech firm co-founded by a man who thinks the NHS should be \u2018ripped up\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas the government\u2019s decision to trust this controversial company with British people\u2019s most sensitive and personal health data made on the basis of what\u2019s best for our country \u2013 or was it yet another dodgy backroom deal brokered by Mandelson for the benefit of his rich pals?\u201d<\/p>\n

Chi Onwurah, the chair of the science and technology committee, said: \u201cWe have raised questions about Palantir\u2019s public sector contracts, how and why they came about and whether the UK should be dependent on large, US-based providers. We will be publishing our findings shortly, but it is clear that the government should prioritise greater sovereign capability in emerging technologies, and review its dependence on these firms.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Mandelson resigned as director of Global Counsel in May 2024, he has continued to retain shares in the consultancy, according to records at Companies House.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need the full picture on Mandelson\u2019s involvement,\u201d said Campbell. \u201cAnything else risks irreparable damage to public trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palantir declined to comment. Mandelson, the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Defence have been approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Peter Mandelson\u2019s involvement with the US tech company Palantir must be exposed to full public transparency, campaigners have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-408521","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}