Sadiq Khan just pulled the handbrake on the Metropolitan Police’s £50 million artificial intelligence contract with Palantir, the controversial US data firm that’s been quietly colonizing British public services. City Hall claims the Met committed a “clear and serious breach” of procurement rules by essentially treating Palantir as the only serious option for automating criminal intelligence analysis.
When Procurement Rules Actually Matter
The Mayor’s Office exposed how police sidestepped competitive bidding for surveillance tech.
Think about your phone carrier locking you into overpriced contracts after that “amazing” introductory deal. That’s exactly what civil liberties groups say Palantir does to public institutions through its “land and expand” strategy. The company already scored a £489,999 corruption-monitoring contract with the Met—conveniently just below the £500,000 threshold requiring mayoral approval.
Now they wanted £25 million annually for the big prize: AI systems that would ingest and analyze vast amounts of crime data across London.
Budget Crisis Meets Silicon Valley Promises
Scotland Yard warns that blocking AI modernization will force deeper officer cuts.
The Met isn’t pleased. Facing a £125 million funding shortfall and planning 1,150 job cuts, police argue they need to “modernize faster than criminals and hostile states.” They point out that Palantir already powers systems for the NHS (£330 million contract) and Ministry of Defence (£240 million), asking why London should be different.
The force warned that “without new technology, delivered at pace, we will be forced to make further tough choices that cannot avoid reducing officer numbers.”
The Surveillance State Question
Critics worry about handing intimate personal data to Trump supporter’s spy-tech firm.
Here’s why Khan’s decision matters beyond procurement technicalities. Palantir, co-founded by Trump supporter Peter Thiel, already processes highly sensitive UK police data through its “Nectar” project—including citizens’ political opinions, health records, sexual orientation, and trade union membership.
Chi Onwurah, chair of Parliament’s science committee, welcomed the block as addressing “vendor lock-in and dependence on a small number of large, US-based providers.” When your mayor says public money should only go to companies that “share the values of our city,” it’s worth asking whether a firm that works with ICE and the Israeli military makes the cut.
The Met says it will “pursue every avenue to resolve this issue swiftly.” Translation: expect this fight to continue, with London residents’ privacy and police capabilities hanging in the balance.
