(l-r): Clive Lewis and Tom Watson
Palantir, the data surveillance company at the heart of the British state, has warned its most outspoken parliamentary critic, the Labour MP Clive Lewis, that it has been surveilling his anti-Palantir activities.
Lewis, who read out the warning at a fringe event at the Labour party conference, organised by tech non-profit The Citizens, described it as an “implicit threat” to his activities as an MP.
Arriving at the event on Monday, he explained that he had just received a letter (reproduced in full below) from his former shadow cabinet colleague Tom Watson, now Lord Watson of Wyre Forest.
Watson, the former deputy leader of the Labour party, announced his new job as senior vice-president UK for Palantir Technologies earlier this month. Taking up the role, he said that part of his remit was to combat “propaganda” about the firm. The letter is his first public intervention and was sent in response to an article Clive Lewis wrote in the Guardian.
Lewis said he had only “skimmed” the letter before the livestreamed event and addressed the camera to say: “Tom if you’re watching, I don’t think it’s a private letter: you’ve sent it to a member of parliament in response to a very public article in the Guardian.” He added he had kept his criticisms to the “structural issues” around Watson’s appointment, and how his “defection – for want of a better term – to Palantir” affected “democracy and confidence in the political class”.
In the letter, Watson notes that he has taken a “long-term leave of absence” from the House of Lords and goes on to enumerate Lewis’s statements about Palantir both in and outside parliament.
“For years, especially over the past year, you have made the case against Palantir itself more or less continuously – in the Commons, in written questions, in early-day motions, in interviews and opinion pieces, and on social media. By my count, you’ve spoken about Palantir almost 130 times since 2020; around 50 in the past year alone.”
“I’m quite impressed by that, actually,” Lewis interrupted to say, before continuing to read the letter from Watson out: “You have called us a ‘spytech firm’, said our ‘business is death and destruction’, called the NHS contract a deal that ‘stinks’, and urged the Health Secretary, the FCA and others to cut ties with us entirely.”
‘They’re saying: we are watching you. We are monitoring you. And that’s what we do. Your card is marked’
After the event, Lewis said: “It’s an incredibly defensive response. There’s a level of detail there that I didn’t even know. That, to me, was an implicit threat. They’re saying: ‘We are watching you. We are monitoring you. And that’s what we do. Your card is marked’.
“Honestly, it feels very Palantir. Very Big Brother. ‘We are watching you. We know what you are saying.’ There’s definitely a sense of power there. ‘This is what you are up against’. If ever I needed a reason to fight harder for democracy, they’ve just given it to me.
“But it’s pretty concerning. They have access to my health records. What else do they have access to? And how could they use it?”
Clara Maguire, the executive director of The Citizens, the tech non-profit that organised the event and which has campaigned against Palantir in the NHS since 2020, said: “It was a pretty shocking moment. Palantir is a data surveillance company. That’s its business model. And yet here’s their latest hire, a Labour lord, [inferring to] his former colleague that they are actively surveilling his activities. It’s obviously a threat. Particularly given how vulnerable Palantir is suddenly looking with the change of government.”
The letter comes at a crucial moment for the future of Palantir in the NHS. Its contract running the Federated Data Platform – worth up to £330m over seven years – is up for renewal and parliament’s cross-party science, innovation and technology committee has recommended against it. In June, it stated that the UK public sector is over-reliant on Palantir and urged the government to develop the UK’s own capabilities.
An investigation by the Nerve has revealed that Palantir has £670m of contracts with the UK government. It gained a foothold through a no-bid contract during the pandemic and has rapidly expanded across multiple departments. However, Watson’s appointment comes amid growing unease about the company’s role in the British state, just as a change of government makes its UK business more vulnerable.
Tech justice and patient support groups have planned a protest outside Palantir’s offices in London on Thursday and further action is expected at the Labour party conference.
In his Guardian article, Lewis pointed out Watson had joined the surveillance company having previously had a high-profile role tackling “mass surveillance” during the phone-hacking scandal – a signal to the public, he wrote, of “how far the rot in our democracy has spread”. He said Watson’s argument that he had taken a leave of absence was a “smokescreen”.
“He hasn’t burned his contacts book,” Lewis said. “He understands how the system works and where the bodies are buried. Palantir aren’t the good guys. I think it’s really important people pick a side. You need to either commit yourself to public service or you need to commit yourself to working for them, and you can’t do both and you shouldn’t do both.”
Carole Cadwalladr is a co-founder of The Citizens and spoke alongside Clive Lewis at the event – a launch for a new Citizens film club focused on tech issues
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