A cross-party parliamentary committee had called on the UK government to cancel a £330m NHS contract with US military spytech firm Palantir.

A 70-page report published Wednesday said the company – whose co-founder Peter Thiel has said “the NHS makes people sick” and it should embrace “market mechanisms” – was at odds with British values and should not play a significant role in the public sector.

The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee’s report said officials should exercise a 2027 break clause in the NHS contract with the firm, which is accused of enabling severe human rights abuses by US immigration agents and Israel’s military.

“The government should… either develop an in-house replacement or seek an alternative developed by UK-owned and UK-based providers that are more compatible with UK values,” the report said.

The report also noted recent revelations that Palantir had been granted “unlimited access” to identifiable patient information via the federated data platform it is building. It demanded the government explain “on what statutory basis this was authorised, when, and by whom”.  ​

In March Palantir was granted yet another UK government contract to analyse highly sensitive Financial Conduct Authority data.

“Palantir’s increasing presence across the public sector represents an unacceptable point of weakness,” the committee’s report said.

“Of the small number of technology providers that the UK public sector relies upon, Palantir concerns us most,” it added. “In the United States it has supplied software for that country’s military and immigration services, supporting highly controversial policies and activities. Its co-founder has criticised the concept of a national health service.”​

Foxglove, a non-profit that campaigns against abuses by tech giants, said in a statement: “MPs across parties, NHS staff, and a growing swathe of the public are ​united in their belief that a firm like this should have no part in our public services.”

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