--- title: "Palantir settled its London lawsuit and still lost the £50 million Met Police contract" description: "Palantir settled its High Court challenge on October 14, 2026, with the blocked £50 million contract still dead and open to rivals, hours after an 18-country investigation put Europe's Palantir spending at €1.4 billion and rising resistance against it." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Policy" published: 2026-10-15T19:12:39.478Z modified: 2026-10-15T19:12:39.478Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/palantir-settled-its-london-lawsuit-and-still-lost-the-50-million-met-police-contract language: en keywords: "Palantir, United Kingdom, Government Contracts, Surveillance, Europe" --- # Palantir settled its London lawsuit and still lost the £50 million Met Police contract > Palantir settled its High Court challenge on October 14, 2026, with the blocked £50 million contract still dead and open to rivals, hours after an 18-country investigation put Europe's Palantir spending at €1.4 billion and rising resistance against it. [Palantir](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/palantir) has [dropped its High Court fight with London's mayor](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjr4yzlwr00qo) and gained almost nothing: the £50 million Met Police contract it sued over stays dead, goes out to a competitive re-run in which Palantir is only one bidder, and neither side paid the other a penny [1][4]. On the same day, [an 18-country investigation put Europe's government spending on the company at roughly €1.4 billion](https://www.ftm.eu/articles/palantir-europe-spending-defence-intelligence-health), and at least that, with several of those governments now actively unwinding it [2]. For anyone holding Palantir stock, this is the political ceiling on its European business made visible: gatekeepers can void a deal after the police have signed it, and the re-run is open to rivals. ## The settlement is not the win the statement makes it look like MOPAC, the mayor's policing office, agreed the block was not based on Palantir's "values or ethics" and that Palantir is free to bid again [1][5]. But the contract is still [re-tendered, with the decision expected in the spring](https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/tech-giant-palantir-and-sadiq-khan-settle-legal-battle-over-police-contract/ar-AA2efqU9) and an open field [5]. The Met commissioner's warning that the system would have funded 500 job cuts against a budget shortfall changes nothing about who gets paid [5]. Palantir's answer is Tom Watson, the former Labour deputy leader [hired as a senior vice-president last month](https://thenextweb.com/news/tom-watson-palantir-senior-vice-president), a hire [a Labour MP described as buying access](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/24/tom-watson-palantir-uk-politics) [7][8]. Lobbyists cannot re-run a tender. ## The bigger number is Europe, and Europe is pushing back Follow the Money's survey found 11 European governments buying Palantir at national level, eight using it in defense, and NATO running its command system on the company's MAVEN software, bought in March 2025 [2]. Denmark's army has halted MAVEN purchase talks in favor of a European alternative, France's domestic intelligence service will not renew its contract, and Britain is reviewing [the £330 million NHS data contract ahead of a break clause](https://theinference.org/article/a-maine-court-filing-puts-palantir-s-ice-database-in-evidence-weeks-before-britain-s-330m-decision) in February 2027 [2][6]. The chain from here: every watchdog that voids one deal raises the cost of the next one, and the re-runs are where competitors eat the revenue. Watch the NHS clause and the spring Met decision. ## Takeaway Palantir's London settlement left the £50 million Met Police contract dead and up for competitive re-tender, while an 18-country survey shows European governments unwinding Palantir deals, from Denmark's MAVEN talks to Britain's £330 million NHS contract ahead of its February 2027 break clause. ## Sources 1. [BBC News, Palantir drops legal fight over blocked Met Police software deal, 14 October 2026](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjr4yzlwr00qo) 2. [Follow the Money, European countries spend at least €1.4 billion on 'dangerous' Palantir, 14 October 2026](https://www.ftm.eu/articles/palantir-europe-spending-defence-intelligence-health) 4. [POLITICO Europe, Palantir settles dispute with Sadiq Khan, 14 October 2026](https://www.politico.eu/article/palantir-settles-dispute-with-sadiq-khan/) 5. [Sky News via MSN, Tech giant Palantir and Sadiq Khan settle legal battle over police contract, 14 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/tech-giant-palantir-and-sadiq-khan-settle-legal-battle-over-police-contract/ar-AA2efqU9) 6. [Reuters via MSN, Palantir and London mayor's office settle lawsuit over UK police contract, 14 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/palantir-and-london-mayor-s-office-settle-lawsuit-over-uk-police-contract/ar-AA2eegRh) 7. [The Next Web, Tom Watson joins Palantir as its £330M NHS contract heads for a break clause, 18 September 2026](https://thenextweb.com/news/tom-watson-palantir-senior-vice-president) 8. [The Guardian, Tom Watson's move to Palantir is the latest sign of how far the rot has spread in UK politics, Clive Lewis, 24 September 2026](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/24/tom-watson-palantir-uk-politics) --- Palantir settled its London lawsuit and still lost the £50 million Met Police contract — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/palantir-settled-its-london-lawsuit-and-still-lost-the-50-million-met-police-contract