UK in talks with Palantir on small boats crackdown: report
Key Points
- The Home Office held a preliminary meeting with Palantir last summer to explore a potential role in the UK's border security operation.
- Border Security Command, set up by Labour with £280m in funding, is tasked with disrupting people smuggling gangs rather than front-line immigration enforcement.
- Palantir already holds a £330m NHS data contract and a £260m Ministry of Defence deal in the UK.
- Civil liberties campaigners have raised concerns about Palantir's expanding role in British public institutions, pointing to its work with US immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.
- No procurement negotiations are currently taking place, and Palantir says there have been no further talks since the summer meeting.
The Home Office held preliminary discussions with Palantir last summer over a potential role for the AI firm in Britain’s border security operation, The Telegraph reports.
Executives from Palantir met Martin Hewitt, then the UK’s Border Security Commander, to explore how the company’s data analysis software might support the government’s effort to disrupt people smuggling gangs.
The meeting, recorded in government transparency disclosures, was described by a source as a “limited scoping exercise” with no procurement negotiations taking place. Hewitt has since been replaced by Duncan Capps, a former British Army officer.
Palantir also met Simon Bond, the civil servant leading the Home Office’s digital immigration control programme, alongside other technology companies.
Border Security Command, launched by Labour following its 2024 election win, sits across Border Force, the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement, and the Security Service.
The unit carries a budget of more than £280 million and holds a mandate to deploy “new technology and cutting-edge surveillance equipment” against criminal gangs.
Palantir’s expansion into the UK
Palantir is a US-listed data and AI company valued at around $330 billion (£263 billion) and chaired by technology billionaire Peter Thiel.
Its software specialises in aggregating and analysing large volumes of data, and it counts defence agencies, police forces, and health services among its clients worldwide.
In the UK, it secured a £330 million contract to provide data services to the NHS and a £260 million deal with the Ministry of Defence earlier this year.
In February, it also won a trial contract with the Metropolitan Police to help identify officers facing corruption or conduct investigations.
Palantir’s expanding footprint across British public institutions raises questions that go beyond immigration policy.
The company already holds access to NHS patient data, a fact that has drawn sustained criticism from campaigners, including Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who has called for that contract to be revoked on the grounds that the same technology infrastructure could eventually be repurposed for deportation screening.
Palantir disputes this, arguing that using NHS data for immigration enforcement would be unlawful and that its software has contributed to 110,000 additional NHS operations.
The potential expansion into border security would represent a further step in what critics describe as the creeping privatisation of state surveillance functions.
Met Police talks have already drawn objections from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who questioned whether Palantir’s values align with those of the capital.
Increased scrutiny
Palantir’s interest in UK border contracts comes as the company faces scrutiny in the US over its work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency driving the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
That association has fed concerns among UK civil liberties groups about the values underpinning the company’s technology and business model.
More than 6,000 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats so far in 2026, following 41,000 crossings last year.
Labour has made reducing those numbers a central political priority, which creates commercial opportunity for firms offering data-led approaches to border monitoring and gang disruption.
Palantir confirmed the meeting took place but said no further discussions had followed. The company told The Telegraph it remains willing to discuss how its software might support other government priorities.
