Labour conference delegates push government to cancel Palantir's £330m NHS contract

Delegates at the Labour party conference in Liverpool have submitted an emergency motion pressuring the government to cancel its £330m NHS contract with US technology firm Palantir.

The motion calls on the Department of Health and Social Care to exercise a break clause in the contract for Palantir to run the Federated Data Platform (FDP), which uses its AI-powered analytics software to bring together information from across the health service.

Put forward by the Labour-affiliated Socialist Health Association and at least three constituency parties, it claims Palantir is “facing numerous allegations of involvement in serious breaches of human rights, including due to it developing technology for Israel’s military to use in its unlawful occupation of Palestinian land and genocide in Gaza”. Israel denies allegations of genocide in Gaza; Palantir says its software was only used by the IDF in Gaza to help locate hostages, never to target Palestinians.

It also highlights the appointment of Labour peer Tom Watson as senior vice president of Palantir UK, arguing that “links between senior politicians and private companies creates distrust amongst voters, particularly where public contracts are awarded”. Announcing the move on X last week, Lord Watson said: “Palantir is the most interesting company on the planet, doing work of real consequence: helping Britain and its allies defend themselves, helping police protect our citizens and helping NHS staff get patients treated and home sooner.”

A conference committee will decide on Saturday whether it is debated and voted on when the gathering starts on Sunday.