Palantir is feeling heat from the NHS, but will lobbied politicians listen?

Lib Dem MP Martin Wrigley told the Canary last week that the NHS will consider whether to exit its contract with Palantir at the end of this year. Wrigley added that he would be helping to create an “off-ramp” to help the NHS detach from Palantir.

In 2023, Palantir was awarded the £330 million NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP) contract, covering up to 240 NHS bodies over seven years. The initial term ends in February 2027 and promises to deliver an integrated system where NHS organisations, up to 240 health bodies, can share operational data.

Palantir’s NHS sales pitch

Palantir clients includes Israel’s genocidal military and America’s racist border regime which answers to Trump. Palantir co-founder and techno-fascist Peter Thiel dismissively described public affection for the NHS in the UK as a case of ‘Stockholm syndrome.’

On 2 July, Wrigley explained to the Canary what has been happening in Westminster.

 How do I know this? Because they’ve been in Parliament this week having a long session of two hours trying to persuade politicians that they were good for the NHS. They’re not—they’ve sold a vision… about how they could unite all the systems on the NHS… pic.twitter.com/8Hj2nYyU8n

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) July 6, 2026

Wrigley added that Palantir is feeling defensive and pressured. He said company representatives had spent two hours in Parliament lobbying politicians to market themselves as “fit” for the task of handling patient data. He said:

They’re not—they’ve sold a vision… about how they could unite all the systems on the NHS and give a single dashboard… this isn’t possible.

Manchester as a model

For Wrigley, Greater Manchester is the model to follow. He believes it has already built its own homegrown management systems delivering everything Palantir promises, and more:

We have to build systems that bring patients and patients’ trust with us, like they have done in Greater Manchester, where they have done everything Palantir has got to offer and more. So that is the way to do it, and not using Palantir.

Greater Manchester chose not to join the NHS Federated Data Platform with Palantir, and has stuck by that decision.

The region already has seemingly stronger data analytics capabilities than the FDP offers, and with public concern only growing and no compelling evidence of benefits, it has taken a review entirely off the table.

Labour MP Rebecca Long-Bailey also recently highlighted Greater Manchester’s data analytics system, which outperforms Palantir’s FDP, and suggested it could serve as a gold-standard model for other ICBs and Trusts across the NHS.

Burnham and Palantir

Burnham, who served as Mayor of Greater Manchester from 2017 until June 2026, had no direct mayoral authority over NHS organisations in Greater Manchester. However, to his credit, under his leadership, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority issued no contracts to Palantir.

Wrigley is also pushing for the potential future PM to drop Palantir for the NHS.

Burnham has not publicly said where he stands on Palantir. Unnamed allies reportedly told the Telegraph Burnham was considering cancelling the Palantir contract but this was later refuted by anonymous sources.

His silence, rather than vocal opposition to it like Green leader Zack Polanski’s, suggests Burnham is likely to represent continuity Starmerism.

Featured image via the Canary