What are the implications of the newest tranche of Epstein files for the NHS? Lucy Nichols examines
Peter Mandelson’s close friendship with Jeffery Epstein has sparked a crisis in the heart of Westminster, with Keir Starmer in a very weak position as a result. But what do we know about Mandelson, Palantir and the NHS from these newly released files?
The Epstein files reveal the perversity and corruption of some of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful men. We now also know that Mandelson abused his position as a public servant during his time in government, handing sensitive information over to Epstein. Even after Epstein’s conviction for sex crimes involving children Mandelson remained a close friend and sent him supportive messages. Finally, the files suggest that Mandelson engaged with private companies, such as JP Morgan, in efforts that risked undermining Gordon Brown’s Labour government, despite serving in it at the time.
Where is the controversy around Palantir coming from?
Epstein had close business links to Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel, through a venture capital fund, Valar Ventures. Thiel and Epstein worked together from 2014-2019, up until Epstein’s final arrest and after he had pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from minors.
Mandelson too had strong links to Palantir. He founded a political lobbying firm, Global Counsel. This firm was hired by Palantir in 2018 to help procure UK Government contracts, while Epstein and Peter Thiel were still linked. Mandelson stopped his involvement with Global Counsel when he was appointed as UK ambassador to the US but still held shares in the firm.
By this point, Palantir had already secured the £330 million contract with the NHS. The company now holds over £670 million worth of contracts with the UK government, including the NHS contract as well as others. Keir Starmer visited the US Headquarters of Palantir in early 2025, as part of an official visit to the White House, a meeting facilitated by Mandelson and taking place while Palantir was still a client of Global Counsel.
Following the recent disclosures, Mandelson is currently under investigation by the Metropolitan Police for misconduct in public office. There is increasing pressure on Starmer, including from his own MPs, to reveal just how much he knew about Mandelson’s links to Epstein, with calls for full transparency despite the pending police investigation.
Starmer admitted to Parliament that he was in fact aware that Mandelson had maintained contact with Epstein even after his conviction. Mandelson’s reputation for operating behind the scenes, controlling messaging and aggressive strategic role in party politics had earned him the nickname ‘Prince of Darkness’ as early as the mid 1980’s, when he was Labour’s Director of Communications under leader Neil Kinnock.
What are the implications for the NHS?
Mandelson’s fall from grace doesn’t just affect Westminster politics but demonstrates his, and successive UK Governments’, failure to put the public first. The lack of transparency and shady lobbying over Palantir is concerning for those fighting for a better NHS. So is Mandelson’s clear betrayal of the idea that politicians ought to be working in the public’s interest.
Palantir’s contract with the NHS has already been the subject of serious opposition, given the company’s links to the Israel Defense Forces and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the nature of how the contract was procured, and concerns around abuse of patient data. The Mandelson affair will undoubtedly put this contract under more scrutiny when it comes up for renewal in 2027, with mounting evidence indicating that it must not be renewed.
Palantir out of the NHS
Support for the termination of Palantir’s contract with the NHS has already come from a wide range of organisations. Keep Our NHS Public recently joined the Peace and Justice Project’s online briefing on Palantir. We also joined Green Party Leader Zack Polanski outside Palantir’s UK Headquarters, to hand in a symbolic ‘termination of contract’ notice.
Local campaigns, such as the Hackney Coalition Against Palantir, and Keep Our NHS Public’s Leeds branch have been working hard to hold their local trusts and Integrated Care Boards to account over their use of Palantir’s technology. Similar campaigns exist around the country, and many NHS trusts remain reluctant to use Palantir’s technology. This is both because the software is seen as inferior to existing systems, and public disquiet over whether their data will be kept confidential and used only to the benefit of the NHS.
As ICE continues to terrorise civilians in the US, Palantir is under even more pressure. It would be legitimate to call for an end to the Palantir contract solely based on the company’s ties to war and militarism, or indeed its lack of expertise in dealing with health data. However, that this private company is causing harm to the NHS, and putting our data at risk, makes this argument far stronger. The opaque circumstances under which Palantir was awarded the NHS contract in the first place further undermines its position. The British Medical Association (BMA) has called for a ‘move away’ from Palantir. BMA President Tom Dolphin argued that “there must be a complete break from Palantir technologies in the NHS and no further contracts awarded.”
However, Palantir is not the only private company that is undermining the health service. There must be full transparency in how NHS contracts are procured. Wes Streeting has accepted up to £372,000 from private health companies and has no ideological commitment to keeping private profit out of public health. Streeting instead prefers to join his predecessors in welcoming in the private sector as ‘partners’.
The Government must finally put public health first. This includes properly funding the NHS and reducing outsourcing, as it promised in its manifesto. No private company should be allowed to lobby and cheat its way into profiting from the NHS. Mandelson must face justice and the full details of his actions and exactly what was known by the Prime Minister made public. Finally, Wes Streeting should listen to the calls of many other MPs, unions, campaigners and NHS workers and commit to a fully public NHS.
The NHS is BROKEN. In other words, the task is NOT to counterpose keeping it “public”, NOR to somehow reverse its present, partly-NON-public aspects, but to FIX its broken-ness. I will explain.
There are some potential allies who also wish to fix the NHS and who are neither right-wing populists (e.g., REFORM supporters) nor who are trade-unionists nor who are trade-union organisations nor who are other political parties.
By chance, I stumbled upon a 14-minute YouTube video by Professor Tim Wilson.
His video is entitled: NHS chaos – especially for elderly patients.
Tim Wilson provides an analysis of how, for example, primary care at the GP level is divorced from bureaucratised hospital structures; how social care is divorced from primary healthcare; etc, etc; and hence, how CHAOS rules an NHS that is BROKEN.
Like me, Professor Tim Wilson has experienced and witnessed many of the stumbling blocks that keep the NHS broken. And, like me, he is elderly.
I am 78 and have been against medical PRIVATE practice for more than 50 years. I believe that a privileged few should not have access to better medical care by jumping queues because they can afford to pay for such privileged queue-jumping. So, NO TO PRIVATE PRACTICE, but first of all, FIX THE BROKEN NHS by democratising it fully.
I agree with what you say 100%, the NHS should not use private healthcare. Politicians, I say Politicians as it’s been going on for years,need to listen and prioritise the NHS. Also, this is the least trust I’ve ever had in a political party.
I cannot afford to go private and I shouldn’t have to as we’ve all paid/are paying our taxes but getting very little in return.
I’m a pensioner and worry if I need medical treatment. I avoid the doctors but I shouldn’t.
Please make health care available to all people,free at the point of need
The NHS is the only organisation in ENGLAND We can be truly proud of,
Voted twice The best in the world,
Then the greed of the politicians took over, and they decimated OUR NHS. for their own ends !
Why is this company not being investigated by the fraud squad and or a public enquiry?
For many years both Labour and Conservative governments have failed to support vital services in our country. Not only the NHS but education, social care and housing have been left to flounder in a sea of turmoil. Buildings in need of serious repair and enlarging to accommodate those in need. Schools and hospitals need serious funding just to make then fit for purpose. The care system of children, the disabled and the elderly is failing to provide both assessment, care and support. The homeless are neglected including those who have served in the military. It’s time this country had a government that cared for its people. It’s time we knew how much the governments have wasted resources and settled on contracts were not in the best interests of the people and how much has been pocketed by members of our government as favours for giving information and contracts to companies lining their pockets at the expense of our own citizens.
Wes Streeting needs to be kicked out NOW. He has no idea of social aims. But there is a wide streak of self-serving Ministers and parliamentarians and even ex PMs in the Labour Party. Change is needed to kow-towing to the City, Offshoring tax evasion loopholes need IMMEDIATE reform.Senior partners in tax evasion practices need long term prison sentences. If necessary the threat of capital punishment needs to make professionals think twice.
The real issue is that no matter how many petitions, or “strongly worded” letters we write, or back or spread, nothing actually changes.
The NHS is still being starved and the actual government in power does nothing at all to change it, and none of the upcoming politicians are interested.
They all appear to on the payroll of some company or other.
Our political systems is endemic with corruption and self serving individuals, what hope have we of changing this, when there is little to no difference between any of them.
Palantir’s contract with the NHS is only for 7 years. The NHS will then find they are trapped, and cost will go throught the roof.
The NHS should have gone for open source software, for example basing it on Postgres. It’s cost of ownership is far lower.
AI said:
Long-Term Strategic Risks
Monopoly Lock-in: The arrangement threatens to lock the NHS into a long-term dependency on a single private, foreign supplier, making it difficult to switch providers in the future.
Privatisation of Data: There is a concern that this deal represents “asset-stripping” or the privatisation of a valuable public resource, where a private company could benefit from AI models trained on NHS data.
Misuse of Public Funds: The high cost of the contract has been criticized, especially when some NHS trusts have reported that the proposed software is a step backward from existing, more effective systems.
before writing this comment I read the other comments and I am absurdly surprised that nobody mentions the fact that our DATA went to Silicon Valley without our consent. REALLY? Are we already part of the USA? I want to have a word about that as well.
The way things are going, 2026 may be our last chance to save the NHS. I was born in the year it was founded and have been grateful for it all my life – no way could I have afforded to pay for an urgent appendectomy or hysterectomy, both of which I have been given under NHS care. We need to wake up and snatch it back from the greedy private companies – last chance saloon!
The way things are going, 2026 may be our last chance to save the NHS. I was born in the year it was founded and have been grateful for it all my life – no way could I have afforded to pay for an urgent appendectomy or hysterectomy, both of which I have been given under NHS care. We need to wake up and snatch it back from the greedy private companies – last chance saloon!
It is not only Palantir. Streeting believes private nurses would be cheaper than NHS nurses. That can only be on relatively rare occasions. He should be moved to a ministerial portfolio where he would have less chance of increasing costs or where his lack of innovative ways of satisfying staff pay and conditions demands would have much lower importance.
Thank you for taking action at this crucial point in time.
I wholly support our wonderful NHS and am concerned about patient data being shared by
private companies and wish to see the contract with Palantir ended because of its links to the IDF and ICE.
Here’s an analysis by Green and Pleasant land, of the insertion of Palantir infrastructure through back doors in ways familiar to this website. https://youtu.be/2qdWbj1MiWk?si=Tk7RQ4pIqvNh9C56