Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Ward and Ben Maguire

Thursday 23rd April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Ben Maguire (North Cornwall) (LD)]

T8. Successive Governments have handed public contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds to the US tech firm Palantir, including the Ministry of Defence and NHS England, for a procurement process that many clinicians and other experts say completely lacks transparency. That is not to mention Palantir’s horrifying surveillance of Palestinians on behalf of the Israel Defence Forces, as well as its unethical involvement with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Does the Minister accept the huge risks of outsourcing our sensitive information contracts to such amoral American data leeches, and when will the Government prioritise more secure British-based alternatives?

[Chris Ward]

As I have said, one aim of the Government’s procurement reforms is to ensure that we support more British companies and end the reliance on external suppliers. The two Palantir contracts that the hon. Gentleman mentions are for the NHS and defence, so it is best to take the matter up with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Defence, which are the relevant Departments.