Story perspectives

Future PM Burnham vows to scrap NHS Palantir deal

7/4/2026

Summary

Burnham Ends Palantir

Andy Burnham, Labour leader set to become prime minister on 20 July 2026, intends to end the NHS’s £330 million Palantir contract.
The seven-year NHS Federated Data Platform deal, awarded in 2023, includes a break clause that requires notice in December before a March renewal.
Critics, including Labour lawmakers and trade unions, cite Palantir’s work with the Israeli Defence Forces and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as reasons to terminate the contract.

Summary

Burnham Cancels Palantir

Allies say Labour leader Keir Burnham may cancel the £330 million Palantir contract to win back Greens voters.
The Greens’ leader Zack Polanski opposes Palantir.
Burnham’s chief of staff is a former head of Flint Global, a lobbying firm that does not publish its client list.
Flint Global has no record of Palantir as a client.
The Jewish Chronicle cited anonymous sources close to the MP for Makerfield that Burnham may pull the contract.

History

Historical Context

In June 2013 Snowden’s leaks showed the NSA and Britain’s GCHQ using Palantir software to process millions of UK citizens’ records, a practice defended by Foreign Secretary William Hague as “indispensable.” The fallout spurred an NHS analytics deal with Palantir, which Labour leader Andy Burnham now vows to end, echoing the 2013 privacy outcry.

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Burnham Ends Palantir

Andy Burnham, Labour leader set to become prime minister on 20 July 2026, intends to end the NHS’s £330 million Palantir contract.
The seven-year NHS Federated Data Platform deal, awarded in 2023, includes a break clause that requires notice in December before a March renewal.
Critics, including Labour lawmakers and trade unions, cite Palantir’s work with the Israeli Defence Forces and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as reasons to terminate the contract.

1 / 3