{"id":507352,"date":"2026-04-01T16:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T16:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/507352\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T16:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T16:12:11","slug":"mp-rejects-palantirs-claims-that-criticism-of-nhs-england-deal-is-ideologically-motivated-palantir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/507352\/","title":{"rendered":"MP rejects Palantir\u2019s claims that criticism of NHS England deal is \u2018ideologically motivated\u2019 | Palantir"},"content":{"rendered":"

Claims by Palantir<\/a> that concerns over the US data analytics company\u2019s multimillion-pound NHS contract are \u201cideologically motivated\u201d have been rejected by the chair of a parliamentary committee.<\/p>\n

It was also appropriate for the government to seek guidance on activating a break contract in the deal, said Chi Onwurah, a Labour MP who heads the science, innovation and technology select committee.<\/p>\n

Louis Mosley, the executive vice-chair of Palantir in the UK, had urged the government<\/a> not to give in to \u201cideologically motivated campaigners\u201d as ministers explored a way out of a \u00a3330m NHS contract<\/a> with the tech company for England.<\/p>\n

Ministers have sought advice on triggering a break clause in Palantir\u2019s deal to deliver the Federated Data Platform (FDP) amid questions over the company\u2019s presence in the public sector.<\/p>\n

The FDP is an AI-enabled data platform designed to connect disparate health information across the NHS. Palantir also has contracts with the Ministry of Defence, several police forces and the UK\u2019s financial watchdog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Onwurah\u2019s cross-party committee will report in the coming weeks on its inquiry into the digital reorganisation of government and public services, including the role of AI, after a series of sessions in which evidence has been taken from experts, NHS<\/a> bosses and companies including Palantir.<\/p>\n

In relation to Palantir, she flagged concerns in three areas: the contract awarded to the company; the use of patient data and the extent of distrust in the NHS that may act as a barrier to the service\u2019s move from analogue to digital; and the issues around Peter Mandelson\u2019s role in the deal. Mandelson was a co-founder of Global Counsel \u2013 a firm that advised Palantir.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose three issues have not been a fringe concerns,\u201d Onwurah told the Guardian. \u201cThere may be those who have an ideological concern about data and Palantir but there are issues around contract transparency, vendor lock-in, value for money and data security.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not fringe ideological concerns, but ones that should concern all of us and particularly those who want to secure a shift from analogue to digital for the NHS,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the challenges of fusing innovation to the NHS is that so many NHS staff are burned out after Covid and austerity. So to add on to that a resentment relating to trust issues makes something that is difficult all the more so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Onwurah said that the committee\u2019s concerns related in part to the circumstances in which Palantir had been awarded a contract after working with the NHS at a nominal cost. Large tech companies are known to use strategies such as providing free or heavily discounted work as a means to position themselves as the best candidate to win government contracts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s right [the government] are exploring all options including how to break with the contract, as there are ongoing concerns about the take-up of the FDP, as long as it is being run by Palantir,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Martin Wrigley, a Liberal Democrat member of the committee and an MP who has encouraged the contract\u2019s termination, has called on the government to procure a new consortium of UK tech experts to build a platform for the NHS.<\/p>\n

Mosley used his appearance before the committee last July to accuse British doctors of choosing \u201cideology over patient interest\u201d after they attacked the company\u2019s contract to process NHS data.<\/p>\n

He told the Times<\/a> this week that the government should resist calls to eject the company from NHS England\u2019s data systems. \u201cWhat some ideologically motivated campaigners are suggesting should happen would harm patient care and prevent some of the biggest challenges facing the NHS from being tackled,\u201d Mosley said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Claims by Palantir that concerns over the US data analytics company\u2019s multimillion-pound NHS contract are \u201cideologically motivated\u201d have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-507352","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507352","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=507352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}