The Mayor of London recently vetoed a £50 million contract a tech company called Palantir had agreed with the Metropolitan Police. The Mayor claimed his extraordinary intervention was because of procedural wobbles but his office gave away that it was the company’s “ethics” that he found objectionable.
Palantir is an American AI company with apparent friendly connections with the Trump administration. It also works with Israel and US immigration enforcement. It is therefore occasionally singled out by those on the Left who hate Trump and Israel, even though there are dozens of other companies that fall into those criteria.
But using a political veto against a company when the Met Police have said the result will be a reduction in police officers and therefore presumably an increase in crime in London is an extraordinary decision.
This is especially true when it is clear other police forces and NHS areas around the UK are working happily with Palantir which is clearly at the very cutting edge of AI technology.
So, in a robust response, Palantir has announced that it is suing the Mayor of London to get the decision reversed – and they have engaged the eminent barrister Lord Pannick to represent them. Their prospects of winning in court seem to me to be very respectable.
In this country politicians shouldn’t get to impose their own personal concepts of morality on procurement and commercial contracts under English Law.
In a separate case, the German insurance company Allianz are performing a public service by also deciding to take some robust legal action.
Allianz’s corporate headquarters in London was badly damaged by pro-Palestine activists who allegedly threw red paint over the premises.
The individuals allegedly responsible are being prosecuted in the criminal courts. But Allianz have begun their own civil action against a number of the protesters alleged to have caused the damage.
Perhaps Allianz are aware that the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the criminal courts have proved rather ineffective against the pro-Palestine lobby. Over the past three years the police have failed to arrest many individuals, the CPS have failed to prosecute many others, and when they do the criminal courts have often failed to convict. Even after a conviction many of the sentences passed have provided little deterrent.
The consequence is that the criminal courts have largely failed to deliver effective punishments for many offences against Jews in this country in recent years, whilst managing to deliver harsh sentences for those who offend against left-wing sensibilities, like deleted tweets in Southport or public disorder in Southampton.
Allianz has chosen to sue the individuals personally to recover the cost of the damage they allegedly caused to their building. If the civil case is found proven the defendants will be personally liable, possibly each for tens of thousands of pounds in damage.
The actions of companies like Palantir and Allianz are strongly in the public interest in my opinion.
Taking tough action to defend their interests requires courage which has been lacking in our elected leaders and pursuing justice in the civil courts will likely be more of a disincentive to future bad actors than the police have been.
Elbit, whose factory was attacked and damaged to the tune of £1.2 million should consider doing the same.
They may not be able to recover all their losses but they’ll be disincentivising others and performing a true public service for law and order. When it comes to Israel and the Jewish community in this country, many apply double standards and bias to their decisions, just as many in the media notoriously focus on Israel whilst silent about other cases.
With some politicians one gets the impression that if they were around in 1666 they’d be spewing bile about Israel whilst the Great Fire of London was burning the city down about their ears.
But English Law requires reasonableness and equity – all parties must be treated equally, a concept that the left often forget when Israel is a factor.
English courts still apply the law fairly, even if we cannot trust politicians to be even-handed in their decisions. Our judges remain so highly respected that we have “legal tourism” in London, when foreign companies voluntarily choose to have their disputes settled and arbitrated under English Law because they know our judge’s rulings will be fair.
Those who unfairly cause physical or reputational damage to businesses are unlikely to change voluntarily. In my view an effective deterrent for companies damaged by physical or political attacks would be to bring civil actions for damages.
Being hit in the bank balance is highly likely to mean those found liable will avoid doing it again.
Sir Michael Ellis is a Conservative politician and barrister who served as Attorney General in 2021 and 2022
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