Labour peer Tom Watson has warned MP Clive Lewis over his repeated criticism of Palantir in a letter sent during the Labour party conference, with Lewis subsequently describing the intervention as an “implicit threat” to his activities as an MP.
Watson, who joined Palantir as its senior vice-president UK earlier this month, wrote to Lewis after the MP criticised his appointment in the Guardian. Watson’s letter detailed Lewis’s previous comments about Palantir and noted that he had spoken about the company almost 130 times since 2020, including around 50 times during the past year.
Watson cited Lewis describing Palantir as a “spytech firm”, saying its “business is death and destruction” and calling its NHS contract a deal that “stinks”. Lewis read portions of the letter at a Labour conference fringe event organised by technology non-profit The Citizens on Monday, as reported by The Nerve.
Lewis said the level of detail in Watson’s letter suggested he was being monitored, although the letter itself does not state that Palantir had surveilled him. “They’re saying: we are watching you. We are monitoring you. And that’s what we do. Your card is marked,” Lewis said after the event.
The Citizens executive director Clara Maguire, whose organisation has campaigned against Palantir’s NHS involvement since 2020, said the exchange was “a pretty shocking moment”. Maguire characterised Watson’s letter as a threat, while the report noted that her organisation opposes Palantir’s role in the NHS.
Watson subsequently defended Palantir’s UK operations in a letter published by the Guardian. He said the company had nearly 1,000 UK employees, with an average age below 30, and that its workforce included engineers and software developers supporting public services, the armed forces and police.
“There is a respectable argument to be had about technology, power and accountability,” Watson wrote. He said nearly one in five of Palantir’s global workforce was based in the UK and argued that the company’s British employees should not be treated as part of the debate over concerns about its technology.
The dispute comes as Palantir’s NHS Federated Data Platform contract, worth up to £330 million over seven years, approaches renewal. The parliamentary science, innovation and technology committee recommended in June that the government develop domestic capabilities and reduce the public sector’s reliance on Palantir. Speaking at the Labour party conference, Louise Haigh signalled that the government could end Palantir’s work with the NHS, warning that Britain must build domestic AI capabilities rather than become “in hock” to foreign technology companies.
The Nerve reported that Palantir holds £670 million of UK government contracts, while tech justice and patient support groups are planning a protest outside its London offices on Thursday.
National Technology News has reached out to Palantir for comment.
