Stop Outsourcing Our Sovereignty: Lib Dems Demand Probe into Palantir’s FCA Data Deal.

​The Liberal Democrats have sounded the alarm over the UK’s deepening reliance on controversial tech giant Palantir, calling for an urgent Treasury investigation into a new contract that grants the firm access to sensitive British financial data.

​The demand follows the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) decision to partner with the US-based surveillance company to analyse internal intelligence. The move has sparked fierce criticism from those who argue that handing the keys to the UK’s financial regulatory data to a company with deep ties to the Donald Trump administration is a gamble the government cannot afford to take.

​A Pattern of "Land and Expand"

​This latest deal is far from an isolated incident. The Liberal Democrats are highlighting a worrying trend of "contract creep," where Palantir has systematically embedded itself into the most sensitive corners of the British state. From health to defense, the firm’s footprint now spans over £500 million in public sector deals.

"Palantir have their fingers all over systems in the NHS, and MoD. Our nationally significant tech systems should be UK owned, sovereign tech solutions - not outsourced to politically motivated US companies." Rachel Gilmour MP

​The reach of this "surveillance-first" firm is now staggering:

​NHS England: Palantir secured a massive £330 million deal to run the Federated Data Platform (FDP). This move was met with a formal challenge via an Early Day Motion led by Lib Dem MPs, who noted the "negative implications of Government contracts being awarded to those who do not share British democratic values."

​Ministry of Defence: A recent £240 million "no-bid" contract was awarded to modernize military data analytics—a move that bypasses competitive oversight. Liberal Democrats have also raised the alarm over this lack of competition in the House of Lords.

​"On the Government's own admission, this is a strategic contract... We are creating a single behemoth that our UK firms won't be able to compete against." Lord Fox

​Home Office & Beyond: The firm has been quietly integrated into border control, the COVID-19 vaccination programme, and the "Homes for Ukraine" scheme.

​Liberal Democrat MPs on the Commons technology committee, have argued that 

“We should be developing our own industries rather than handing everything to a foreign giant.” Martin Wrigley MP, 

​"An Error of Judgement"

​Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, Daisy Cooper MP, was scathing in her assessment of the FCA deal, suggesting the government is sleepwalking into a security nightmare.

​"Palantir has spent years embedding itself within the MAGA machine. Awarding a contract for sensitive UK financial data to a Trump-aligned tech giant seems like a huge error of judgement," Daisy Cooper MP 

​The Liberal Democrats have repeatedly warbed the government that the UK is becoming precariously entangled with a private entity that may not have British interests at heart.

​"The Chancellor cannot sit idly by while the British state becomes increasingly dependent on a foreign firm that treats our data as its private playground. We need a full Treasury investigation to see if the huge risks of giving this contract to Palantir were overlooked." Daisy Cooper MP 

​The Fight for Data Sovereignty

The Liberal Democrats belive that ​the government is failing to take account of the  geopolitical risks of these deals, particularly given Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel's role as a billionaire backer of the Trump movement.

​"We must be alert to the genuine risk that data collected by Palantir in the UK could be fed back to the White House. The Government have consistently chosen to obfuscate, rather than clarify, transparency around its operations." Calum Miller MP -Defence spokesperson

​The Liberal Democrats are urging the Treasury to invoke its oversight powers under the Procurement Act (2023) to address three critical risks:

​National Security: The party argues it is a "sovereignty risk" to outsource the UK's financial, health, and military intelligence to an entity with such deep ties to a volatile foreign political movement.

​Monopolistic "Lock-in": Campaigners and Liberal Democrat MPs fear that the more Palantir is enmeshed in public services, the harder it becomes to remove them, leaving the taxpayer at the mercy of a single foreign supplier.

​Lack of Competition: Many of these contracts have been awarded without a competitive tender process, ignoring the British tech firms that could provide domestic, secure alternatives.

​The Liberal Democrats are calling for a "security-first" approach to procurement that prioritizes the protection of British citizens' data and the growth of the UK tech sector over the convenience of off-the-shelf software from foreign surveillance titans.