Healthcare campaigners turn up the heat on Palantir at Labour conference

Campaigners against Palantir's involvement in the UK's health sector are set to make themselves heard this week with planned protests at the Labour Party conference and in London. Health justice charity MedAct and medical campaign group Just Treatment are coordinating a protest at the ruling party's annual conference in Liverpool as ministers consider whether to extend the NHS's contract with the US spy-tech company. The groups are among those urging the government not to extend the Palantir-led Federated Data Platform (FDP) contract, which could be worth up to £330 million over seven years. In June, the cross-party Science, Innovation and Technology Committee said Palantir should not play such a significant role in the UK public sector. It urged the government not to extend the FDP contract in 2027 and instead to develop an in-house replacement or seek a UK provider. "Vendor lock-in isn't inevitable, and the current position leaves us seriously exposed," committee chair Dame Chi Onwurah said. …