Palantir hits back at Sadiq Khan after £50m contract with Met police blocked

Sadiq Khan’s office blocked Palantir’s deal with the Met police, saying there had been a ‘clear and serious breach’ of procurement rules. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA

Palantir has accused Sadiq Khan of “putting politics above public safety” after the London mayor blocked its £50m contract with the Metropolitan police in a move that has also led to tensions inside Labour over its involvement with the US tech company.

Louis Mosley, who heads Palantir in the UK and Europe, accused Khan of politicising procurement after he rejected a two-year deal for Scotland Yard to use AI to process intelligence in criminal investigations, as first revealed by the Guardian. Mosley said: “What Londoners value is not being mugged, not being raped by a serving police officer.”