Sadiq Khan Blocks £50 Million Met-Palantir Deal Over Procurement Breach
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · May 21
Sadiq Khan Blocks £50 Million Met-Palantir Deal Over Procurement Breach
5 articles · Updated · The Guardian · May 21
£50 million of planned Met Police spending was halted after Sadiq Khan refused approval for a two-year Palantir contract to automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations.
City Hall said the Met committed a “clear and serious breach” by failing to secure approval for its procurement strategy, engaging seriously with only Palantir and not proving value for money.
Mopac also warned the force risked being locked into Palantir’s technology and exposed both the Met and the mayor to legal and reputational risks; it wants a fresh procurement process launched quickly.
The blocked contract would have been Palantir’s biggest in British policing, despite the company already holding more than £600 million in UK public-sector deals and facing mounting political backlash over its wider role.
Khan’s intervention complicates Labour’s push to expand AI in policing, even as ministers back faster adoption and a £115 million national programme to test and scale police AI.
After a £50m deal was blocked on a technicality, can 'London's values' truly keep controversial AI out of policing?
Beyond the price tag, is the real danger of Palantir's AI the financial lock-in or its unchecked surveillance power?
London Mayor Blocks £50 Million Met Police-Palantir Deal Over Procurement Breaches and Ethics Fears
Overview
London Mayor Sadiq Khan blocked the Metropolitan Police's proposed £50 million contract with Palantir after the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime found a clear and serious breach of procurement rules. The Met Police failed to follow basic procurement principles, such as engaging with alternative suppliers and properly testing the market. This was not the first time, as a previous Palantir AI trial was also awarded without open competition. Mopac raised major concerns about the contract’s value for money, risk of technological lock-in, and high cost, all of which posed significant legal and reputational risks for the Met Police.