May 15, 2026
Mind the gap... in ethics
Palantir has hired more than 30 senior UK Government officials
Commenters say the UK’s ‘revolving door’ isn’t a scandal — it’s basically tradition
TLDR: Palantir has reportedly hired 32 senior UK officials, raising fresh fears about cosy ties between government and a powerful surveillance company. Commenters mostly weren’t shocked — they were sarcastic, angry, and split between mocking the “revolving door” and saying this kind of insider shuffle is sadly normal.
Palantir hiring 32 senior UK government and public sector figures should have been the big jaw-dropper, but the comments section had other ideas. Instead of acting shocked, plenty of readers responded with a weary, darkly funny “...only 30?” energy, treating the news less like a bombshell and more like the latest episode in a long-running political soap opera. One user even joked Palantir needed to “get their act together,” turning the alleged revolving door into a punchline rather than a surprise.
That doesn’t mean people were relaxed about it. Far from it. The deeper mood was furious cynicism: commenters painted this as business as usual in Britain, where public officials drift into private firms, especially lucrative defence and consultancy jobs, while taxpayers are left with the bill. One especially biting take said this is standard operating procedure for the British state, with billions supposedly wasted on consultants and never-ending tech projects. In other words, the scandal wasn’t that it happened — it was that anyone would pretend it’s unusual.
The biggest eye-roll was reserved for Palantir’s defence that some of those named were veterans. That line got mocked hard, with commenters accusing the company of rolling out a familiar “but the veterans!” shield to dodge the main criticism. And then came the moral drama: one commenter said a friend was offered a huge pay rise by a defence company, but warned they’d struggle to stay friends if he took it. So yes, this story has contracts, power, and surveillance — but the real fireworks are in the comments, where the public mood swings between gallows humour, disgust, and a very British sense of “of course this is happening.”
Key Points
- •An investigation by The Nerve reported that Palantir has hired 32 senior UK government and public sector officials since 2012.
- •The reported hires came from organizations including the NHS, Ministry of Defence, Department of Health and Social Care, Home Office, Foreign Office, UK Health Security Agency, Crown Commercial Service, the secret service and Downing Street.
- •The article says Palantir is under scrutiny over UK government contracts involving the NHS, MoD, Financial Conduct Authority and 11 police forces.
- •Transparency experts said the hiring pattern creates an “acute risk” of corruption, although the article states there is no suggestion of wrongdoing.
- •Palantir said it rejects claims of a revolving-door strategy, adding that 14 of the 32 named individuals no longer work for or with the company and that six were ex-armed forces veterans.