CONCERNS have been raised over Keir Starmer’s recent meeting with US spy tech firm Palantir.
The Prime Minister toured the US company’s headquarters in Washington DC last week with new US ambassador Peter Mandelson, including meeting with its billionaire co-founder and CEO Alex Karp.
But transparency campaigners have now hit out at the visit given the lobbying firm Mandelson co-founded, Global Counsel, has counted Palantir as a client for years.
While Mandelson stepped down as chairman of Global Counsel last year, he still retains “significant control” according to Companies House.
Palantir, which was founded by the Republican donor Peter Thiel, is best known for its work with intelligence agencies around the world – including with Israel.
The company also has a UK Government contract worth up to £330 million to develop a new data platform for the NHS.
Good Law Project’s executive director, Jo Maugham, said that this US meeting is a “truly shocking conflict of interest”.
“[It] is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the Conservative Government,” he added.
“Is Peter Mandelson visiting Palantir as a representative of the Government looking after our interests – or as an emissary of his ugly lobbying group looking after his own financial interests?”
Maugham went on: “Does he make money from Starmer providing free advertising for one of the most dangerous tech companies in the world?"
Global Counsel counted Panatir as a client as recently as Q3 of last year, as highlighted by OpenDemocracy’s Ethan Shone.
The Financial Times also reported in February last year that the official responsible for the NHS date project was made a guest of honour at a dinner organised by Global Counsel in which a Palantir representative was also present.
Duncan Hames, a policy director at Transparency International UK, stressed the importance of transparency over who ministers and the Prime Minister are meeting.
“What they discuss is vital to ensure decisions are taken in the public interest,” he said.
“When Lord Mandelson introduces a former client to the PM on a visit to the US, it underscores the need for clarity around how the Foreign Office is managing any conflicts of interest which may arise from the ambassador's past business interests."
The Scottish Greens, meanwhile, also expressed concerns over the meeting.
“There are few companies that ring as many alarm bells as Palantir,” Maggie Chapman (above) said.
“Their equipment has helped to enable Donald Trump’s brutal crackdown on migrant communities and the mass targeting and detention of marginalised people.”
The Scottish Greens MSP added: “They have monetised pain and put their profits over the rights of those on the frontline of the Trump administration’s vile agenda.
“Palantir should never have been allowed anywhere near the NHS or any other service that exists to help and support people.
“It is time for Keir Starmer to come clean about what conversations have taken place and why he is meeting with a company that has profited from human misery on such a scale.”
The UK Government have been approached for comment.
