Khan consents to digital search in Palantir procurement dispute
The London Mayor’s Office has agreed to allow the search of senior officials’ communications, including text messages and emails, as part of a High Court case over a blocked £50m contract with the Metropolitan police.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has consented to have his text messages, emails, and other digital communications searched as part of a legal dispute with US technology firm Palantir. The agreement was reached at a preliminary High Court hearing, where Khan and more than a dozen other officials were designated as “custodians” of documents. This designation requires that their digital records, including WhatsApp messages and Microsoft Teams chats, be searched for relevance to the case and subsequently disclosed to Palantir.
The dispute originated in May when Khan blocked a proposed two-year, £50 million deal between Palantir and the Metropolitan police. The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (Mopac) cited a “clear and serious breach” of procurement rules, noting that the police force had seriously considered only one supplier. Palantir intended to provide artificial intelligence technology to automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations, a move that drew criticism from the Mayor’s office.
Legal representatives for the mayor initially argued that it was not necessary or proportionate to include Khan as a custodian, given that the decision to block the deal was made by the deputy mayor for policing and crime. However, Mopac consented on a “pragmatic basis” due to Palantir’s persistence in its requests. The court was told that the specific date range for the communication searches has yet to be determined.
Sarah Brown, Khan’s former director of communications who has moved to work for Prime Minister Andy Burnham, is also included as a custodian. Her inclusion follows Palantir’s claim that press articles regarding the deal veto cited concerns about the company’s values and ethics. Mopac confirmed that Brown “initiated” the press briefings about the move, leading to her correspondence being subject to the same search.
Palantir had previously accused Khan of “putting politics above public safety” before declaring in June that it planned to sue the London mayor. The company, which works for the Israeli military and the Trump administration in its immigration crackdown, is now in a legal tussle over the procurement process. Mopac is reportedly demanding to see Palantir’s own internal documents related to the deal, which the company is said to be resisting.
The case is scheduled for next year, with the High Court overseeing the preliminary steps to ensure all relevant digital communications are identified and disclosed. The inclusion of senior officials in the search highlights the institutional focus on the governance of large-scale police contracts and the transparency of the decision-making process.
