Sadiq Khan Backtracks on Blocking Palantir From Met Contract

Sadiq Khan has granted Palantir a 12-month pilot project with the Metropolitan police, just weeks after he blocked a £50m deal between the two.

Citing procurement rules, Khan had stopped the deal amid loud opposition to the tech firm’s role in the Gaza genocide and its work with deportation agency ICE in the US.

Khan’s spokesperson said that Londoners only want to see public money paid to companies that “share the values of the city”.

But the mayor of London appears to have backtracked – at least temporarily. This week it emerged he has granted Palantir a £2m contract to last at least 12 months whilst the force runs a procurement process to find a longer-term supplier. 

The news broke just days after the company launched a high court challenge against Khan’s decision to block the contract, which would see Palantir technology used to automate criminal investigations analysis.

A spokesperson for Khan said: “The deputy mayor has required the Met to run a new procurement process, open to a wide range of potential suppliers, to choose the long-term provider of this capability.

“Recognising the Met’s current needs, the Met may extend the current pilot to retain existing capability while this procurement takes place.”

Palantir holds contracts worth at least £670m across government institutions in the UK, including the NHS, despite widespread concerns about its ethics record.