Sadiq Khan will have his text messages and emails examined as part of Palantir’s legal challenge after he intervened to block a £50m contract with the Metropolitan Police.
The mayor stepped in during May to prevent a proposed two-year supply agreement under which Palantir would have provided artificial intelligence tools to automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations. The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, Mopac, said the procurement involved a "clear and serious breach" of rules because police had effectively considered only one supplier.
Palantir responded by accusing Khan of "putting politics above public safety" and in June declared it planned to sue the mayor. At a preliminary hearing on Thursday the high court was told Khan and more than a dozen other Mopac and Greater London Authority officials have been designated as "custodians", whose digital communications will be searched for material relevant to the dispute and disclosed to Palantir.
Joseph Barrett KC, for the mayor’s office, said in written submissions, "Mopac did not originally consider it necessary or proportionate for the mayor to be added as a custodian, given that the decision was taken by the deputy mayor for policing and crime; his senior position; and the likelihood that any documents held by him would be held by other individuals. However, Palantir has persisted in its requests, and Mopac has consented on a pragmatic basis."
The court was told searches will include texts, WhatsApp messages and Microsoft Teams chats, insofar as those records exist. Sarah Brown, Khan’s former director of communications who in July moved to Downing Street as director of communications for the prime minister, Andy Burnham, was also added as a custodian and will have her correspondence reviewed. Palantir has flagged press coverage that discussed concerns about the company’s values and ethics, and Mopac says Brown "initiated" briefings on the decision.
Mopac is also seeking to see Palantir’s internal documents related to the proposed deal, which the company is said to be resisting. The date range for the searches has not been fixed. The disclosures prepare both sides for the substantive court hearing due next year, and they broaden the scope of evidence the judge will consider when assessing whether the procurement was lawful.
