A Blair-era crony with Jeffrey Epstein hyperlinks handed a Trump ally’s agency a £240 million defence contract with out tender in a damning nationwide safety scandal.
Mandelson has Epstein ties and Blair hyperlinks (Picture: Getty)
A Blair-era crony handed a controversial US agency co-founded by a Trump ally a staggering £240million defence contract with out placing it out to tender, an investigation has claimed. Peter Mandelson reportedly steered by way of the “strategic partnership” between the MoD and Palantir Applied sciences final September. The agency was based by Peter Thiel, one of many US president’s most loyal tech-bro backers.
The deal was not topic to aggressive tender and has raised critical questions on how the contract was awarded to the agency, the investigation alleges. Lord Mandelson, who served as Enterprise Secretary underneath Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, had quickly stepped down from his agency World Counsel – which counts Palantir as a shopper – earlier than being sacked as UK ambassador to the US final September after revelations emerged about his friendship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The revelations come as a damning investigation by the impartial media outlet Nerve revealed that Palantir has amassed a minimum of 34 contracts with the UK Authorities value a staggering £670million – together with a £15million cope with Britain’s nuclear weapons company.
Nationwide safety consultants have warned that the US agency’s involvement in Britain’s vital infrastructure represents a “gaping nationwide safety vulnerability” as Trump threatens NATO allies.
Chris Kremidas-Courtney, senior visiting fellow on the European Coverage Centre and former Nato adviser, advised the outlet: “Embedding Palantir into the UK Ministry of Defence’s programs is dangerous not as a result of it is a international firm however as a result of it is an organization managed by Peter Thiel, a billionaire ideologue with far-right affiliations.”
He added: “As a substitute of seeing Palantir as a vendor, the UK can be sensible to as an alternative see them as a vector of malign affect.”
The Nerve investigation, as reported by the outlet, reveals Palantir has beforehand undisclosed contracts with AWE Nuclear Safety Applied sciences, the company that designs and manufactures nuclear warheads carried by UK submarines.
The contracts, value £15million for “cloud assist,” don’t seem on the Authorities’s official contract finder web site.
Trump ally Thiel’s agency acquired £240m (Picture: Getty)
Labour MP Clive Lewis stated Parliament was “dangerously behind the curve” in understanding the menace posed by Palantir’s involvement in British defence.
“After this week’s geopolitical ruptures, it is a gaping nationwide safety vulnerability and, frankly, a scandal,” he stated, as reported by the Nerve.
The agency’s largest buyer after the US Authorities is the UK.
Mr Thiel was Mr Trump’s first high-profile Silicon Valley supporter and has donated chunks of cash to his campaigns. The billionaire has publicly supported authoritarian authorities, saying he “not suppose[s] that freedom and democracy are appropriate.”
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Palantir CEO Alex Karp has stated the corporate is “dedicating our firm to the service of the west and the USA of America,” including it was typically needed “to scare enemies and, every now and then, kill them.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson stated: “All knowledge used and developed in Palantir’s software program deployed throughout the MOD stays sovereign and underneath the possession of the MOD. We’ve got put in place intensive knowledge safety and safety measures to make sure UK Defence info is appropriately managed.”
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