Palantir's lobbying-driven entrenchment in the British state demands curbs on its influence and real lobbying reform
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/georgemonbiot. "Palantir is worming its way into the British state – it’s time to curb this controversial US company’s influence | George Monbiot | The Guardian." October 14, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
Monbiot argues that Palantir has won huge UK government contracts largely by buying political access, hiring ex-ministers and using lobbyists in a system with weak transparency rules. Because it now handles sensitive data like NHS records and risks locking the state into dependence on it, he says the government must finally tighten lobbying rules and curb the firm's influence.
Conclusion
The UK government, and Andy Burnham in particular, should curb Palantir's influence over the British state by enforcing genuine lobbying transparency and reform, so that public contracting serves the public rather than corporate interests.
Premises
- Palantir has won contracts worth hundreds of millions across the MoD, police forces, the FCA, the atomic weapons establishment and the NHS, some without open tender (e.g. a £241m MoD contract).
- Palantir's main advantage is its willingness to spend more on political access than almost all of its competitors, including through Mandelson's Global Counsel, lobbyists such as Lodestone, and some 30+ former ministers and officials on its payroll (including Tom Watson).
- Key access points were opaque or undeclared, such as the unrecorded 2019 Johnson/Cummings/Thiel meeting, the undeclared 2025 Starmer meeting brokered by Mandelson, and officials with prior Palantir-linked roles who now hold senior posts.
- Palantir's loss-leader pricing (e.g. the £1 NHS contract) and the risk of vendor lock-in can make government dependent on it, after which it can set its own price. Its products have also been alleged to be poor.
- Palantir is ethically and security-wise questionable as a custodian of critical data: it supplies ICE and Israeli targeting operations, its leaders have expressed hostility to the NHS, and NHS England has reportedly granted it 'unlimited access' to patient data.
- Britain's lobbying laws are weak, and a repeated pattern of scandal followed by promised reform and then inaction has left transparency recommendations (such as the July ethics and integrity commission proposals) unimplemented.
Assumptions
- Contracts won through privileged political access, even if lawful, are illegitimate or against the public interest.
- The correlation between Palantir's lobbying spending, its hiring of ex-officials, and its contract wins reflects causation rather than merit.
- Greater lobbying transparency would materially reduce undue corporate influence.
- Palantir's work for ICE and Israel is relevant to whether it should be trusted with UK public data.
- Vendor lock-in risks are serious enough to outweigh any operational benefits of Palantir's products.
- Burnham, as PM, has both the power and the responsibility to enact reform, and his action or inaction is a fair test of his government.