--- title: "Palantir's £240 million UK defense contract remains unpublished, six months past the legal deadline" description: "The MoD missed the statutory 90-day deadline, blamed an admin error, and missed its own promised publication date, while the FT counts £186 million of unaccounted ministry spend on Palantir. Shareholders of a US-dominated business carry headline risk on its most prominent international line." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Policy & Labor" published: 2026-11-13T19:13:00.868Z modified: 2026-11-13T19:13:00.868Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/palantir-s-240-million-uk-defense-contract-remains-unpublished-six-months-past-the-legal-deadline language: en keywords: "Palantir, Ministry Of Defence, Procurement, NHS England, United Kingdom" --- # Palantir's £240 million UK defense contract remains unpublished, six months past the legal deadline > The MoD missed the statutory 90-day deadline, blamed an admin error, and missed its own promised publication date, while the FT counts £186 million of unaccounted ministry spend on Palantir. Shareholders of a US-dominated business carry headline risk on its most prominent international line. [Palantir](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/palantir), the US data-analytics firm behind [ICE immigration systems](https://theinference.org/article/no-bid-no-price-no-schedule-ice-moves-visa-vetting-onto-palantir-foundry) and the NHS data platform, holds a £240 million UK Ministry of Defence contract awarded without competition in December 2025, and nobody outside the department has read it [1]. The Procurement Act 2023 gave the ministry 90 days to publish it or formally justify withholding it [1]. More than six months past that deadline, neither has happened [1]. ## The ministry missed the duty, then offered a route the law does not contain Democracy for Sale reports the MoD instead [published a note offering a redacted copy](https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/ministry-of-defence-failed-to-publish-240m-palantir-contract) "on request", a provision the Act does not contain [1]. Asked, an official said the lapse was an "admin error"; on November 6 the ministry promised a redacted copy "imminently" [1]. It has not appeared [1]. By [the FT's count](https://www.techdigest.tv/2026/10/uk-ministry-of-defence-paid-palantir-186m-more-than-listed-public-contracts.html), the MoD paid Palantir £282 million over the decade to March 2026 against £95.9 million in listed contracts, a £186 million gap partly explained by at least one contract withheld for national security, though it remains unclear whether classified deals account for the whole difference; more than 80 percent of the spend went through non-competitive processes [2]. ## America carries Palantir's growth Palantir's growth story is American. [Q3 revenue was $2.31 billion, up 96 percent](https://www.streetinsider.com/Corporate+News/Palantir+Q3+2026+revenue+rises+96%25+as+U.S.+commercial+tops+%24984M/27273709.html), with US commercial at $984 million and US government at $953 million; US commercial overtook the government book for the first time [3]. International revenue was about $376 million, up 26 percent [3][4]. *Chart: **Palantir's international revenue is about $376 million of a $2.31 billion quarter** Bar chart of Palantir's Q3 2026 revenue by segment: US commercial $984 million, US government $953 million and international about $376 million, with international highlighted as the smallest* *Palantir Q3 2026 revenue by segment, US$ millions; international derived as total revenue less US revenue. Sources: Palantir press release via StreetInsider, November 2, 2026; TMT Breakout, November 3, 2026. [3][4]* *Chart: **Palantir's quarterly revenue has nearly quadrupled in three years, from $608 million to $2.31 billion** Line chart of Palantir quarterly revenue from Q4 2023 to Q3 2026, rising from $608 million to $2.31 billion, with the steepest climb in 2026* *Palantir quarterly revenue, US$ billions, as reported in its SEC filings; retrieved 13 November 2026. Palantir's revenue is almost entirely American: the segment split above shows international at about $376 million in the September quarter. [6]* ## The UK book looks bigger, and more fragile, than the public record The UK is the most prominent customer on that small international line, so the unpublished £240 million carries a weight its size does not suggest [1][2][5]. By the FT's count, the unaccounted £186 million suggests the UK book runs bigger than the public record shows; the politics, from committees to unions, suggest it runs fragile [1][2][5]. ## Committees want a break clause, and NHS England retracted its claim Commons committees want a break clause in Palantir's [£330 million NHS contract](https://theinference.org/article/palantir-lobbied-a-uk-minister-to-put-gp-records-on-its-330-million-nhs-data-platform), and this week NHS England [deleted its claim that 137 trusts benefit from the platform](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/nov/12/nhs-england-deletes-misleading-claim-137-trusts-benefiting-from-palantir-ai-tools) after the Guardian found [29 barely using it](https://theinference.org/article/palantir-s-330-million-nhs-platform-29-trusts-say-they-are-not-using-it-before-tonight-s-print) [1][5]. ## Ministers lean the other way, and Palantir helps write the rules Yet ministers are reportedly set to extend the NHS deal two more years, the Labour peer Tom Watson has been hired as a full-time Palantir lobbyist and recently wrote to the health secretary, and the MoD has put Palantir in charge of reviewing its own software-buying rules [1][5]. Palantir keeps its flagship customer while taxpayers fund a contract nobody can read. ## Publication would answer the question, and it has not come The Procurement Act sets out two outcomes. Publication would reveal the £240 million terms: scope, duration, and why no rival was invited to bid [1]. Continued absence, past the November 6 "imminent" promise, deepens the accountability question on one of Britain's most scrutinized suppliers [1]. ## Takeaway The Ministry of Defence has neither published nor formally withheld the £240 million Palantir contract that the Procurement Act required it to disclose within 90 days, and the FT's count puts its payments to Palantir £186 million above its own published contract record. ## Sources 1. [Democracy for Sale (Peter Geoghegan), MoD failed to publish £240m Palantir contract - then blamed 'admin error', 12 November 2026](https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/ministry-of-defence-failed-to-publish-240m-palantir-contract) 2. [Tech Digest, reporting Financial Times analysis, UK Ministry of Defence paid Palantir £186m more than listed public contracts, 29 October 2026](https://www.techdigest.tv/2026/10/uk-ministry-of-defence-paid-palantir-186m-more-than-listed-public-contracts.html) 3. [StreetInsider, Palantir Q3 2026 revenue rises 96% as U.S. commercial tops $984M, 2 November 2026](https://www.streetinsider.com/Corporate+News/Palantir+Q3+2026+revenue+rises+96%25+as+U.S.+commercial+tops+%24984M/27273709.html) 4. [TMT Breakout, TMTB: Palantir (PLTR) & ON Semi First takes, 3 November 2026](https://www.tmtbreakout.com/p/tmtb-palantir-pltr-and-on-semi-first) 5. [The Guardian (Robert Booth and Denis Campbell), NHS England deletes 'misleading' claim 137 trusts benefiting from Palantir AI tools, 12 November 2026](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/nov/12/nhs-england-deletes-misleading-claim-137-trusts-benefiting-from-palantir-ai-tools) 6. [Palantir, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 13 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001321655) --- Palantir's £240 million UK defense contract remains unpublished, six months past the legal deadline — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/palantir-s-240-million-uk-defense-contract-remains-unpublished-six-months-past-the-legal-deadline