The UK Government Faces a Reckoning Over Palantir
Source: Wired ·
Andy Burnham once kept Palantir out of Greater Manchester. His first test as prime minister is whether to cut the company’s £330 million NHS contract—and risk a rupture with Big Tech and Washington.
From the source
When Andy Burnham sat in his office in Manchester as the regional mayor, building an unrivaled power base on Britain’s left that ultimately catapulted him into the prime minister’s office, he did so in the only region of England that refused Palantir access to its data. Now, as Burnham enters his first parliamentary session as British leader, Palantir could prove to be his first major test in office, as sources in Westminster tell WIRED the prime minister is under significant pressure from his new colleagues to break the company’s contentious contract with the National Health Service. The dispute could become the first major crisis of Burnham’s premiership, with those sources saying pressure is mounting on him to decide the future of Palantir’s growing role across the British state in the coming weeks. Palantir currently holds contracts worth around £670m in the public sector, including major deals in health, defence, and policing. The largest—a £330m contract to manage healthcare…