𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

A Blair-era crony handed a controversial US firm co-founded by a Trump ally a staggering £240million defence contract without putting it out to tender, an investigation has claimed. Peter Mandelson reportedly steered through the “strategic partnership” between the MoD and Palantir Technologies last September. The firm was founded by Peter Thiel, one of the US president’s most loyal tech-bro backers.

The deal was not subject to competitive tender and has raised serious questions about how the contract was awarded to the firm, the investigation alleges. Lord Mandelson, who served as Business Secretary under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, had temporarily stepped down from his firm Global Counsel – which counts Palantir as a client – before being sacked as UK ambassador to the US last September after revelations emerged about his friendship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The revelations come as a damning investigation by the independent media outlet Nerve revealed that Palantir has amassed at least 34 contracts with the UK Government worth a staggering £670million – including a £15million deal with Britain’s nuclear weapons agency.

National security experts have warned that the US firm’s involvement in Britain’s critical infrastructure represents a “gaping national security vulnerability” as Trump threatens NATO allies.

Chris Kremidas-Courtney, senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre and former Nato adviser, told the outlet: “Embedding Palantir into the UK Ministry of Defence’s systems is risky not because it’s a foreign company but because it’s a company controlled by Peter Thiel, a billionaire ideologue with far-right affiliations.”

He added: “Instead of seeing Palantir as a vendor, the UK would be wise to instead see them as a vector of malign influence.”

The Nerve investigation, as reported by the outlet, reveals Palantir has previously undisclosed contracts with AWE Nuclear Security Technologies, the agency that designs and manufactures nuclear warheads carried by UK submarines.

The contracts, worth £15million for “cloud support,” do not appear on the Government’s official contract finder website.

Labour MP Clive Lewis said Parliament was “dangerously behind the curve” in understanding the threat posed by Palantir’s involvement in British defence.

“After this week’s geopolitical ruptures, this is a gaping national security vulnerability and, frankly, a scandal,” he said, as reported by the Nerve.

The firm’s biggest customer after the US Government is the United Kingdom.

Mr Thiel was Mr Trump’s first high-profile Silicon Valley supporter and has donated chunks of money to his campaigns. The billionaire has publicly supported authoritarian government, saying he “no longer think[s] that freedom and democracy are compatible.”

Palantir CEO Alex Karp has said the company is “dedicating our company to the service of the west and the United States of America,” adding it was sometimes necessary “to scare enemies and, on occasion, kill them.”

The MoD was approached for comment.