NHS should drop its £330m patient data contract with Palantir, say voters

Two-thirds of voters oppose government contracts being given to the US tech firm Palantir, according to a new YouGov poll. A total of 65% of those surveyed said the NHS should drop its £330m contract with the firm, which was founded by Peter Thiel, a billionaire Trump donor. Thiel has said he believes freedom and democracy are no longer compatible.

Opposition to the contract, which is intended to improve integration of NHS patient data, is even higher among Labour voters, with 76% saying Andy Burnham’s new government should use a break clause when the contract comes up for review in March 2027. The polling, commissioned by corporate accountability pressure group Ekō, found that opposition was consistent across the political spectrum, with 62% of Reform UK voters and 58% of Tory supporters against the contract. The sample of 2,097 adults, consulted on 6 and 7 July, were also overwhelmingly opposed to contracts going to any other US technology firms to handle NHS data (76% against) or Ministry of Defence national security data (79% against).

Palantir technology is used by the US government’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to identify and detain suspected illegal immigrants for mass deportations. The company’s software, which is also used in Ukraine to help develop battlefield plans and identify and prioritise targets, has been used to support the Israeli army’s deployment in Gaza since the Hamas attack in October 2023, amid continued accusations of war crimes and genocide.

Palantir executives have said they are not responsible for how militaries use their technology. The firm has repeatedly tried to distance itself from the opinions of Thiel, who has been candid about seeing technology as an “incredible alternative to politics” that could help “unilaterally change the world” and push through unpopular policies. Palantir already has contracts worth more than £500m in the UK, with its technology used in health, defence and policing.

In June 2025 the British Medical Association voted in favour of a motion that called Palantir “an unacceptable choice” of partner for the NHS Federated Data Platform contract. Freedom of information responses have since found that many trusts do not use the technology, with senior NHS staff complaining of “poor user experience”.

Earlier this month the Financial Times reported that following an investigation by the newspaper, four hospital trusts had confirmed there were errors in the data used to suggest that Palantir technology was improving NHS wait-times.

Several Labour and Green MPs wrote a letter last week aimed at pressuring the government to abandon other contracts with Palantir. They were specifically concerned about a 12-week proof-of-concept trial with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which was announced in March with an option to make it permanent. Palantir was given access to FCA data to help detect financial crime.

Zubir Ahmed, former junior health minister, said in April that the NHS contract was awarded after an independent procurement process. Ahmed said: “Data held within the NHS Federated Data Platform remains under the full control of the National Health Service at all times.”

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