City Hall defends blocking Met's £50m Palantir deal

The mayor of London's policing office has told the High Court it had no choice but to block a £50m deal between the Metropolitan Police and technology company Palantir.

In May, the mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (Mopac) stopped the Met from entering into a two-year contract with Palantir to provide artificial intelligence for criminal investigations.

Mopac said the force had failed to present its procurement strategy, describing this as a "clear and serious breach" of procedure.

Palantir is now suing Mopac, claiming it unlawfully vetoed the deal because it considered the company's "values and ethics", which it said was an "irrelevant consideration".

Joseph Barrett KC, representing Mopac, said this was not the case in his written defence submitted to the court on Thursday.

He said the decision was taken because the Met's process for awarding the contract was unlawful or "gave rise to an unacceptable risk of unlawfulness".

Barrett also said the Met had, "repeatedly, it is inferred intentionally, provided Mopac with inaccurate, misleading and/or inconsistent information" in relation to its procurement strategy and its dealings with Palantir.

The AI technology is available to other police forces, as well as the NHS and the Ministry of Defence.

Mopac added that the Met had only considered Palantir for the contract and had not looked at any other suppliers.

Lord Pannick KC, representing Palantir, previously argued that Mopac's assessment of the company's "values and ethics" meant the decision was "irrational, disproportionate, and is based on irrelevant considerations".

Palantir is seeking "a declaration that (Mopac) has acted unlawfully, an order quashing the decision, and an order that the contract be awarded to the claimant".

A full hearing in the case is expected to take place next January.

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