Burnham allies distance likely next PM from report of Palantir NHS contract cancellation

It notes that, during his time as Greater Manchester mayor, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority didn’t issue any contracts to Palantir between 2017 and last month.

Moreover, Greater Manchester Police has not had a contract with Palantir for over five years.

However, sources close to the MP for Makerfield have sought to distance him from the story. 

They told the JC that the story wasn’t briefed by Burnham or his campaign team.

Earlier this week, left-wing Labour voices piled pressure on the government over defence contracts with the firm.

On Wednesday, Baroness Chakrabarti asked whether “our public money, personal data, national security and reputation be safe in the hands of a company credibly implicated in gross human rights violations, both in Gaza and ICE operations in the United States”.

Defence minister Lord Coaker replied: “The contracts that we operate with Palantir UK have strict protocols in place.

"We retain full ownership and sovereign authority over all defence data, including how it is stored, how it is accessed and how it is used.

"Contracts with suppliers include legally enforceable provisions to ensure that data sovereignty is maintained.”

But there were Labour voices who objected to the drive to attack Palantir.

Lord Spellar, a former defence minister, said Coaker was “quite right to resist attempts, which happen quite regularly, to demonise individual companies rather than looking at the underlying reality”.

But the former minister did caution the government against being “overdependent on individual companies that almost become too big to fail” and that “other companies are available”.

The speculation over Palantir’s future under Burnham resulted in significant criticism from the Conservative Party.

Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, posted on X: “Most AI, including Palantir, is essentially an optimisation engine. It finds better solutions, faster.

“Does Andy Burnham think the NHS is so optimal it cannot be improved…or does he accept that kicking out Palantir will have a trade-off which is measured in more Brits dying?”

Julia Lopez, the shadow science, innovation, and technology secretary, claimed the report was an indication of a potential leftward shift in government if Burnham takes office.

“Yesterday, Andy had a big meeting with the unions just as his camp was sending a flurry of anti-tech briefings”, she said in a post on X, accusing him of spooking the UK’s tech industry, “one of the economy’s rare bright spots right now”.

“Do we want the UK to develop world-leading tech or just receive what everyone else is willing to give us? It looks like a Burnham gov may crush our chances, just as it apparently wants to remove Palantir from the delivery of important gov projects, even if its tech can deliver better NHS services or policing. Straight out of the Sadiq Khan playbook”, she added.

Last month, the Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley launched a rare criticism of the Mayor of London over his decision to block a £50 million contract with Palantir, something the tech firm said it was planning to take legal action over, accusing the mayor of making a “politicised decision”.

Rowley said that the mayor’s decision would make Londoners “less safe” and could result in between 500-700 officers being taken off frontline duties.

The firm itself also hasn’t been shy of robustly taking on critics.

Last month Louis Mosley, the head of Palantir UK and grandson of British Union of Fascists founder Oswald Mosley, shared an article claiming that through the use of Palantir’s technology, rates of death through sepsis had significantly reduced in Tampa, Florida and questioned those who would refuse the technology in the UK.

He commented: “Tampa General: sepsis deaths down more than two-thirds. Parts of Westminster: yes, but is it aligned with our values?”

In April, he issued a lengthy response to a video posted by Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who said he wanted to “take the fight to Palantir”.

Mosley responded: “We have no more access to NHS data than Microsoft has to the contents of your Word documents. I think you know this by now. We don’t have access to patients' medical records. Same story.

"I agree that ‘nothing matters more than our health’. Which makes it worth reminding you of what Palantir’s software is actually doing in the NHS right now: ->110,000 additional operations ->15 per cent fewer delayed hospital discharges ->7 per cent more patients finding out within 28 days whether they have cancer.”

A spokesperson for Andy Burnham told the JC: "We're not going to comment on individual government procurement contracts or companies and there are legal processes that must be followed.

“However, in general, Andy’s guiding principles on procurement are that we need to be getting value for money for the taxpayer and that we need to be safeguarding people's data and British interests.”

A Palantir spokesperson said: “Palantir software is helping to deliver better patient care – including more than 110,000 additional operations to date, a 15 per cent reduction in discharge delays and a 6.8 per cent increase in patients finding out whether they have cancer within 28 days.

“In doing so, the software is helping to deliver a Government programme that is one of only 30 out of 213 that has a green delivery rating, forecast to deliver a £5 return for every £1 spent.
“But that is what it is - software. How that software is used is controlled by the NHS Trusts who use it, with data - legally and contractually - only able to be processed strictly in accordance with their instructions.”