Palantir’s Tom Watson warns Labour against ‘mob rule’ on procurement
Former Labour deputy leader and top Palantir executive Tom Watson has warned his party could face “trouble” if they bow to “mob rule” on procurement procedures.
Lord Watson, who became a senior vice president at the US tech giant in September, said Palantir is “very targeted by the people that are targeting Israeli companies”.
Watson faced criticism from left-wing activists upon joining Palantir due to the firm’s contract with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and US’ Immigration and Customers Enforcement.
“We’re not an Israeli company, but because of our work in Israel, we found ourselves in the middle of the row of the Gaza protests,” he told the BBC’s Political Thinking With Nick Robinson.
The role could put him on a collision cause with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who is being sued by Palantir after blocking a £50m deal with the Metropolitan police following backlash.
“One of the things I’d say to my former colleagues is ‘Do you want to let the rule of law lead procurement practice, or do you want to let mob rule lead procurement practices?’ Watson said.
“Because you get yourself in a lot of trouble if you go down on the latter one.”
Watson: Some Palantir criticism is propaganda
Watson branded Palantir the “most interesting company on the planet” following his appointment last month.
He added some criticism against the firm was “propaganda” and others raised “legitimate questions”.
The company holds multiple government contracts including a £330m deal to provide the NHS Federated Data Platform and a £420m agreement with the Ministry of Defence.
Watson declined to comment on his pay package at the tech giant when grilled, but said “it’s not bad”.
He is the latest in a string of political figures to head into big tech. Former deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg spent nearly seven years at Meta, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has taken roles at Microsoft and Anthropic and former Chancellor George Osborne works with OpenAI.
Watson was appointed to the House of Lords in 2022 after bowing out of the commons ahead of the 2019 general election. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Lords following the return of his cancer. Watson relinquished his pass after accepting the role at Palantir.