THOUSANDS of new documents relating to Keir Starmer’s decision to give the prestigious Washington ambassador job to Peter Mandelson were released this week.
Some of the emails and messages released proved embarrassing for some UK ministers, while the disgraced Labour peer also notably promised then-foreign secretary David Lammy that the UK Government would “never regret” appointing him.
Another topic that the files addressed – and even recognised had considerable public interest – was Mandelson’s ties to US tech firm Palantir.
The spyware company, founded by Donald Trump-backer Peter Thiel, has been awarded major contracts by the UK Government, worth a total of £670 million, and was a client of Mandelson’s now-defunct Global Counsel lobbying firm.
No official records have been kept of any meetings between the firm, which collapsed after Mandelson’s fall from grace over his friendship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and top UK civil servants, according to the investigative news site openDemocracy.
The site reported that the top official in the Department for Business and Trade and a senior Treasury civil servant met with the lobbying company several times last year but that no minutes were kept.
Starmer also failed to declare his controversial Washington meeting with Palantir and its CEO Alex Karp in February last year – which is widely considered to have been arranged by Mandelson soon after his appointment. No 10 had previously described the event as a “visit”, meaning it did not need to be recorded officially.
But what did the newly Mandelson files reveal about Palantir?
The newly released Mandelson files were heavily redacted when it comes to Palantir but there was some insight to be drawn from them.
Notably, an email in the files dated March 5 2025 – so, after the Washington meeting – shows a parner at Silicon Valley venture firm 137 Ventures (an investor in Palantir) inviting Mandelson to a Washington event for defence firm executives and US politicians.
The email notes that Mandelson would be attending “with Louis” – as in Louis Mosley, the head of Palantir’s UK business.
Separately, an email chain that was also released showed that Mandelson emailed Starmer’s chief of staff in July 2025 offering to set up a meeting between the Prime Minister and Palantir boss Peter Thiel – who he described as a “celebrated techie”.
In an email to Morgan McSweeney and his deputy Jill Cuthbertson, he wrote: “I don’t know where you have been approached already but would the PM like to meet him?”
It is unclear whether Starmer ever took up this offer.
Regardless, a month after that – September that is – the Ministry of Defence awarded Palantir a £240.6 million direct-award contract to enhance military AI and data analytics, coinciding with US President Donald Trump's UK state visit.
An exchange in the files appears to reference that announcement.
On 21 August 2025, Mandelson wrote to the Prime Minister directly in a letter headed “The State Visit: Technology Partnership.”
But it is almost entirely redacted and marked “OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE”.
A separate email thread from that same week before the announcement also shows UK civil servants discussing details, including talking about the joint statement that was then signed during the visit.
One official asked in the email thread: “Finally, who is the MOD lead on the potential Palantir announcement?”
Another official chased it up at one point: “Keen to know the answer to the final Palantir question too?”
The only email from Mandelson in that exchange was in response and to which he said: “I am reluctant to intervene on Palantir.”
