alt.hn

5/15/2026 at 8:06:51 PM

Palantir has hired more than 30 senior UK Government officials

 https://www.thenational.scot/news/26055524.palantir-hired-30-senior-uk-government-officials/

by Symbiote

5/15/2026 at 10:11:14 PM

The "revolving door" spoken of here isn't quite as simple as it looks. Granted there are problems at "senior government level" but that is rare.

I worked for UK government for a few years. Then I went to the private sector. This happens a lot. Most of people who do, me included, it's because the public sector is so deep in incompetence and stupid politics that it is soul-crushing. Also to get anywhere you tend to have to take placement roles andmove around a lot and resort to a lot of arse licking and back-stabbing. Having a family or any stability is really difficult.

So you leave. And then they attempt to get you back with "enhanced pay" over your initial mediocre salary because there is suddenly a skills vacuum and everything is falling apart. They know who to reach out to because they want people who can slide back in and clean up the mess. All with redundancy again waved around constantly due to government reshuffles.

by cryo32

5/15/2026 at 11:23:50 PM

The boring reality doesn’t get as many clicks

by basket_horse

5/15/2026 at 11:37:16 PM

The boring reality is that you can bribe a civil servant with £5k in the UK. They are remarkably cheap.

Whether the civil service is a shit place to work or not (it is), there should be a recognition of the fact that the government still controls a large budget. Whilst MPs are scrutinised quite heavily, that same scrutiny is generally not extended to civil servants (because they make the rules). The number of senior civil servants who have been bent beyond belief is long (Heywood, Sedwill is still being put forward jobs even though he has been selling access to the government...it is incredible).

by skippyboxedhero

5/15/2026 at 9:54:08 PM

A friend of mine recently got headhunted by a "defense" company called, and I won't even post the link, it's a website which sounds a bit like Van Helsing with some AI thrown in as a twist. He got an offer of 50k EUR more than his current already ridiculous salary.

I had to say that it's up to you, but don't expect me to still be your friend and still talk to you if you go for that.

"defense"

by karim79

5/15/2026 at 10:00:39 PM

Out of curiosity, would you do this to family members accepting a job you don’t approve of too, or just friends?

by fooker

5/15/2026 at 10:07:09 PM

Yes I would and without question. If by "do" you mean remove myself from the absolute evil that these establishments are, and shame them for it then yes.

I can approve of just about any job unless it's about murdering people because some politician(s) want it.

by karim79

5/15/2026 at 10:11:25 PM

How many steps removed do you draw the line?

Obviously, it's one thing to be a commander ordering an attack, vs a soldier firing the weapon, vs starting the company to make the weapon, vs being a supplier to the weapons company, vs being an employee at the manufacturer, etc.

What about working for a president who is going to inevitably order hundreds if not thousands murdered? Or voting for said president?

What about paying taxes, knowing those tax dollars will go to missiles and guns used to murder?

(This isn't a criticism of your worldview, by the way. I'm just genuinely curious about how others draw these lines.)

by csallen

5/15/2026 at 11:15:57 PM

The line is simple, do you have the choice (personally or influentially) to avoid that? If yes, you draw the line. Can you avoid paying taxes? No, can you influence not to be used as you mentioned? You try. Can you avoid a job that obviously will use your expertise in questionable ways? Yes. The right and wrong is clear, people who try to muddy it they just seek justification.

I personally turned down multiple offers/work when it comes to drones for example, I designed stuff back in 2020 that some companies now just knew about it and its potentials, but when you meet with them and discuss what they are trying to build, you know that whatever they are after can be used in bad faith if the company decided to do so, do you sell your soul for the cash or do you prefer to sleep well at night?

The only exception is whatever you built has no direct or obvious bad faith, you build a library, a gstreamer addon, etc., that can get a pass.

by tamimio

5/16/2026 at 5:06:22 AM

> Can you avoid paying taxes? No

Of course you can. It's just inconvenient. You could leave the country, break the law or stop getting a taxable income.

It's not that "playing along" isn't a choice. It's just an easy one.

If the CEO of your company changes and turns out to do evil things with the company and the product of your work, would you switch the company?

If the President of your country changes and turns out to do evil things with the country and your taxes, would you switch the country?

The line you draw is always the one of the level of convenience you are targeting for yourself. Not saying there is no point having a line, but it's highly subjective.

by bulbar

5/16/2026 at 7:12:55 PM

> You could leave the country

Not if you are a US citizen, you pay taxes even if you’re living abroad.

And yes I would switch companies, it’s exactly what I did before, and I will do it again. I can’t switch countries and I don’t think it’s effective like switching companies, but there are other means if your president or PM turned things evil, from pressuring your MP/senator to campaigning against to others. You never succumb to evil things no matter what.

by tamimio

5/17/2026 at 6:17:54 AM

> Not if you are a US citizen, you pay taxes even if you’re living abroad.

Afair: Only if you pay less taxes where you live, which won't apply if you move to any European country.

> but there are other means if your president or PM turned things evil

I think that's correct, as long as we are thinking about a functional Democratic country. In an autocratic country this doesn't hold anymore.

by bulbar

5/15/2026 at 10:25:55 PM

I'm not GP but I could've written a similar comment. Personally I don't draw the line based on "proximity to war", but on the choices being made. I think poorly of someone who freely chooses "job directly contributing to war" over "job mostly unrelated to war".

by Retr0id

5/15/2026 at 10:24:01 PM

Working on "killy" stuff is bad. That's my whole point. I is l stupid and counterproductive to what we as humanity are supposed to be doing.

by karim79

5/15/2026 at 11:03:57 PM

You realize what happens if we dont have killy stuff right? We get killed.

by camhart

5/15/2026 at 11:14:04 PM

Who is "we"? Who is the boogyman and who are the potential victims?

by karim79

5/15/2026 at 11:36:51 PM

That's the beauty of it, it doesn't matter who the boogeyman is and who the victim is.

Would you tell Palestinians to stop working on 'killy stuff' for moral/ethical reasons?

by fooker

5/16/2026 at 12:34:09 AM

No. But I would tell anyone involved in a genocide to. In my opinion that now includes the US and UK.

Others will have different opinions, obviously, but this is mine.

by tmnvix

5/16/2026 at 1:26:45 AM

Great, that is not an uncommon stance. Respectable in my opinion.

Now, cutting friends and family off over something this just means you do not want to tolerate people with differing views and opinions on this.

It's more about the side you are on rather than some abstract moral argument against working for companies tangentially related to the defense sector.

by fooker

5/17/2026 at 2:56:53 AM

"defense" sector. Listen to yourself.

by karim79

5/17/2026 at 3:17:57 AM

Yes, that’s how language works.

But feel free to petition literally all countries to remove words like defense or security from the names of their militaries.

by fooker

5/16/2026 at 4:10:34 AM

Ask Ukraine.

by camhart

5/15/2026 at 10:54:34 PM

Do you like abortion?

by peyton

5/15/2026 at 11:08:30 PM

What interesting discussion could the answer to this question yield? People who view abortion as “killy” will possibly take GPs stance toward their family and peers. People who don’t won’t.

And anyways, nobody _likes_ abortion, even if they are committed to it being a woman’s right

by Erem

5/15/2026 at 11:04:54 PM

This is insane and irrelevant. A whole other discussion which does not belong in the the same light as, let's call it "coding and engineering practices designed to kill people" under the guise of "defending democracies" as if there are any such democracies currently under threat.

by karim79

5/15/2026 at 10:35:34 PM

Interesting worldview!

by fooker

5/16/2026 at 5:02:32 AM

Living in Europe I have a different perspective on defense. Without it, we would already be living in Russian labor camps. You can't just stop funding military and your military industry and expect other actors to just play along and be friendly from now on then.

by bulbar

5/16/2026 at 3:21:41 PM

How many times have germany, sweden, italy invaded russia in history and how many times has russia done the opposite?

Either you're going to be surprised or you're just in bad faith.

by LtWorf

5/17/2026 at 6:35:17 AM

When the Nazis attacked, it was important for the Soviets and the world that the Soviets had a huge army. So yeah that kind of supports my argument.

Doesn't have anything to do with the fact that Putin transformed the young post cold war democracy of Russia right back into a dictatorship and is now in a full scale war with another country and would have already invaded everything he thinks should be part of 'great Russia'.

A country needs an army because at any time there are just too many aggressors out there. Who that is exactly might change over time, right now Russia clearly is one of them. As the US threatened Greenland and it's raging war against Iran (which course itself is an aggressive dictatorship), it's also a current aggressor against which European countries need an army.

by bulbar

5/17/2026 at 7:17:26 AM

They had already been at war with japan for a while at that point…

by LtWorf

5/18/2026 at 4:40:22 AM

If you intend to discuss, you need to state an explicit argument.

by bulbar

5/15/2026 at 10:26:25 PM

I wonder what opinions and values you hold which someone could make a convincing argument for cutting you off about. Or who would find your job offensive.

by the__alchemist

5/15/2026 at 10:43:40 PM

My job doesn't involve murdering people. It does not contribute to the death of people nor animals. It is somewhat insignificant.

My job does pay my bills and put food on the table but is certainly less glamorous than something which changes the lives of millions of people (though in some way it might). It is definitively inoffensive.

Adding a line of code to a killing machine. That is something else my friend.

by karim79

5/16/2026 at 5:20:22 AM

So you don't live in a country supporting another country that's at war or has been at war lately? Otherwise your taxes contribute to the death of people.

People feel much better having some distance from cruelty, that's why they prefer to eat meat from animals that were tortured their whole life and then killed, but somewhere else where your don't see it happening.

by bulbar

5/15/2026 at 10:33:41 PM

Worrying about what other people think is the biggest waste of energy. I'm glad a lot of people wouldn't be friends with me because of some of my ideals. I don't want to be liked by everyone. Why would you?

by tempaccount5050

5/15/2026 at 11:09:01 PM

> I don't want to be liked by everyone. Why would you?

Eh, this is a bit of a straw man, no? It's one thing to be liked by everyone. It's another for a (presumably) long time, close friend to say they can no longer respect you due to your decisions.

In this case, it's someone who is already making a lot of money, who could make even more by working for a company that builds AI killing machines. Telling that person they are making a serious mistake is doing them a favor. Wouldn't you want your friends to do the same for you?

by teachrdan

5/15/2026 at 11:33:28 PM

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. "Liking" or blindly accepting everyone regardless of what believe or do just because you have known them for some period of time is silly.

by tempaccount5050

5/15/2026 at 10:47:37 PM

Because society functions a lot better when it has people in it who like each other.

by halestock

5/15/2026 at 11:32:35 PM

Homogeny is not good for society.

by tempaccount5050

5/16/2026 at 2:37:42 AM

Nothing I said has anything to do with homogeneity.

by halestock

5/15/2026 at 10:31:21 PM

> He got an offer of 50k EUR more than his current already ridiculous salary.

Out of curiosity, what's considered an "already ridiculous salary"?

by joe_mamba

5/15/2026 at 11:02:46 PM

Shows the value of your friendship.

by camhart

5/15/2026 at 11:08:09 PM

It does. And he didn't go for it as tempted as he was. Because he knew I was right.

by karim79

5/15/2026 at 11:12:56 PM

Why do people in this thread detest that a pacifist with conviction exists? I’m not like them, and nobody is telling you to be like them. But having people like that in a population is important lest we become drunk on our ability to destroy our enemies.

by Erem

5/16/2026 at 4:24:54 AM

I'm fine with there being pacifist. What makes you think I'm opposed them?

What this person is arguing is not for pacifism, its an argument that to be their friend you must agree with them on pacifism.

I have my own thoughts and beliefs. My friends have theirs. They arent all the same. Thats how it should be, and thats healthy. Thats diversity. This "you're dead to me if you dont believe what I believe" culture is idiotic and is not inclusive at all.

by camhart

5/16/2026 at 3:22:31 PM

Would you be friends with a serial killer?

by LtWorf

5/16/2026 at 3:04:03 AM

I think so too :)

Friends have to be honest with each other. Friends don't let friends become fascist!

by hackable_sand

5/16/2026 at 4:28:56 AM

Working for a defense contractor makes you a fascist now?

by camhart

5/16/2026 at 10:10:20 AM

A logger working for a company cutting a few trees to make furniture is not the same thing as a logger working for a company shredding the whole forest to circulate money.

by brahma-dev

5/15/2026 at 10:01:25 PM

Why?

Have you seen what Russia is doing to Ukraine?

What's wrong with a European company working on not letting the same (or worse) repeat in the Baltic states or Poland?

by dgroshev

5/15/2026 at 10:49:47 PM

Because weapons will be used and you will have no control over how. And it being a European company doesn’t mean this weapon won’t be sold to Israel eg

by blks

5/15/2026 at 10:13:20 PM

Given the current state of things I would say that it's really easy to pivot to "let's sell weapons to whoever wants them". Still presenting a product as a way to defend democracies is comical. At the end of the day, people with money will buy these things and it doesn't matter who because oversight is scarce.

by karim79

5/15/2026 at 10:17:45 PM

Sure, but what _is_ the practical solution to the invasion of a foreign military power on your home soil then? Do you think these systems should only be developed by the government? And if so, do you then apply the same logic to anyone working in the government?

by michaelscott

5/16/2026 at 10:16:24 AM

Idea. They can develop all they want, only the government should be the one buying and selling weapons. That way if a government decides to sell weapons to genocidal maniacs, people can vote that government out.

by brahma-dev

5/17/2026 at 7:18:51 AM

Gotta say, it’s kinda funny how many people here get triggered by this line of thinking.

"Yes, of course I'd make tools to kill people for money! How dare you unfriend someone for that?"

Telling on themselves.

by tastyface

5/17/2026 at 5:06:02 PM

They probably took it very personally because it's what they do.

by LtWorf

5/15/2026 at 10:32:19 PM

Wait until you learn about the history of the internet on which you're communicating now.

by karanbhangui

5/16/2026 at 5:40:44 AM

Which are the clean jobs? Is coding 'good'?

Pretty much the only honest ones I can think of are things plumber, carpenter.

by verisimi

5/15/2026 at 11:40:35 PM

Friends who give ultimatums like this are usually toxic and worth ditching. Your friend would be better off cutting you off now, regardless of what they decide about the job, than continuing to associate with someone who'd emotionally manipulate them over a career choice. Healthy relationships simply don't look like this, and dressing it up as principle doesn't change what it actually is.

The fact that this feels like a normal thing to say to a friend tells on you a bit. Get out more, spend time with people who don't already share your priors, and the certainty starts to sand down on its own. Threatening your friendships over someone else's career is not the moral high ground, it's just an ugly way to treat people. Humility is understanding you can be wrong about things even when you're certain you're correct.

by yesco

5/16/2026 at 10:12:30 AM

That's also how fascists get to power. You give them freedom, they use that freedom to get into power and take away your freedom.

by brahma-dev

5/16/2026 at 10:13:36 AM

[dead]

by cindyllm

5/15/2026 at 9:38:06 PM

Lol, this is SOP for the British state. There has been a revolving door between the civil service and the private sector for decades. You cannot conceive of how many billions have been wasted on "consultancy" contracts with the big four, IT projects that lasted for years and delivered nothing, etc.

by nayroclade

5/15/2026 at 11:35:34 PM

It is far bigger than this. I would look more closely into who is behind the article and who has been quoted for comment here/why. And you think it is just some expensive IT projects...UK media has been bought and sold, just not by who you think.

by skippyboxedhero

5/16/2026 at 5:24:38 AM

Who do I think it is and who is it really?

by noman-land

5/15/2026 at 9:01:26 PM

I really do love the American "but the veterans!" script, despite only them being a minority of the people involved:

> Of [the 32], 14 no longer work for, or with, us, some of whom stopped as long as five years ago. Six are ex-armed forces veterans whose public sector experience involved serving and protecting their country.

> Not only do we entirely reject claims of an alleged ‘revolving door’ strategy, but we also believe it is inappropriate to include veterans in a report alleging such a strategy. Aside from the immense value of their experience, there is rightly an undertaking by government and society to ensure they are afforded the opportunity to build a career outside the armed forces when the time is right for them.

by nxobject

5/15/2026 at 11:10:28 PM

Hi Iraq war veteran and former 17 year US civil servant here…

No.

Being a veteran at this point shouldn’t shield you from criticism from being part of the MIC/Revolving door

The owners are doing their absolute best to make military members become hardcore MIC capitalists to give companies trying to get into defense, credibility like a token.

The whole thing is fucking gross and there’s a whole miltary to corporate leadership pipeline.

Everyone should read war is a racket: https://archive.org/details/WarIsARacket

by AndrewKemendo

5/16/2026 at 3:14:04 PM

Unfortunately companies only want somewhat high ranking veterans, not your regular GI.

by LtWorf

5/15/2026 at 8:59:49 PM

“Not only do we entirely reject claims of an alleged ‘revolving door’ strategy, but we also believe it is inappropriate to include veterans in a report alleging such a strategy. Aside from the immense value of their experience, there is rightly an undertaking by government and society to ensure they are afforded the opportunity to build a career outside the armed forces when the time is right for them. Characterising this as part of a ‘revolving door strategy’ does them, and all veterans, a disservice.”

Why should people who been in the army be exempt when talking about a company in defence ?

by stuaxo

5/15/2026 at 9:50:27 PM

Because it’s devastating to their defense.

Notice they think it’s inappropriate to include them for negative conclusions but its appropriate to talk about the positive conclusions.

by lovich

5/15/2026 at 10:02:29 PM

This is outrageous.

We need to hold the line — nobody who has held a job with the UK Government ever deserves to be employed by the private sector. Once you're in the government, you've made your choice, you live or die in the public sector. No more begging the private sector for mercy later.

by bpodgursky

5/15/2026 at 11:24:38 PM

Well in Canada it’s the opposite, people work in gov to build connections, then they go and start a business, use these connections to get contracts, all while hiring people that these connections know/relate to, to secure such contracts.

by tamimio

5/15/2026 at 11:09:40 PM

This way we will get even better and more qualified people into government than now!

by auggierose

5/15/2026 at 11:26:31 PM

Bear in mind, there is far far worse corruption in Scotland (hub and spoke contracting for one, this system has private sector contractors advising the Scottish government on whether to accept their own bids). There is a reason why this specific paper is reporting on this specific corruption in the UK government (and never reports about corruption in Scotland).

It is everywhere, it is endemic, and part of the game is people who are involved briefing the media against other people who are involved in corruption. Almost all the people involved with this campaign that I could find are people on the UK's left-wing grift circuit (in short, you setup an "independent" company/think tank claiming that you are the only source free of big tech...and you are funded by an array of quasi-state bodies and coincidentally end up pumping out continuous pro-regime, anti-change agitprop...it is just layers and layers of corruption).

by skippyboxedhero

5/15/2026 at 10:26:46 PM

The problem with the article cited as the source is that it's unclear as to how many are former public servants or serving ones. Of course, Peers hold their seat in the Lords by virtue of appointment and title, and unless they quit, the implication is that at least some of these are basically side gigs and hence, not a revolving door (that would be how regulatory capture happens in the US and the mere fact that one can straight up a member of the Upper House, however broadly powerless it nowadays, is frankly, asking for the appearance of impropriety). Also 18 people still work there and the PR firm might have screwed up by making a statement that needlessly bring up the question of whether those who no longer work for companies and the veterans mentioned overlap in part or whole. The list of names don't add up to to 30, but 26.

But it'd be really helpful if this obvious moral hazard is explicitly enumerated in the law somehow. Look, the Commons runs the country, and the PM can't violate the constitution (not that there is one and I don't think it's a coincidence that countries have tended to write theirs down, apologies of Bagehot). Why does the Lords still exist when they are basically a rump branch anyway? If the lower house can simply legislate every aspect of it, it's a liability and not that great of a look from afar, whether some sort of influence peddling actually occurred or not. In the US the standard is appearance of impropriety in addition to actual bias and conflict of interest (as in, more than appearance) because this kind of relationship erodes public trust. At some point, it can't be worth the potential PR problem to keep around a rump branch of the government. There's almost 1000 years worth of sunk cost so gotta know when to let go. Are the OBEs and CBEs and all that honours list stuff not good enough? I'm with David Bowie on this one.

by jimz

5/15/2026 at 10:05:12 PM

These people are like a plague. Is there nowhere one can escape them?

Is everyone aware of all the unhinged beliefs their CEO and leadership has been spreading. never mind their actual practices.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/21/palantir-...

I guess like Americans, Britons also have forgotten all of those who paid by their blood to keep destroy these sort of people. Just like Americans, a large number of people know this is a crazy deal, but not enough to do something about it.

by notepad0x90

5/17/2026 at 4:19:41 AM

He is a monster, supporting to bomb children.

by nerdyadventurer

5/15/2026 at 10:32:33 PM

And people still voting ReformUK while seeing what's happening across the pond with equally idiotic people who are in charge for last ~18 months + 4 years in their first term. Looks like they need to learn on their own skin

by nixass

5/15/2026 at 10:09:36 PM

They also hired the eldest grandson of the most famous British fascist (Oswald Mosley) to be head of the UK division.

No idea what the grandsons politics are like, and the guy has to work somewhere. But, you get the feeling mentioning his famous grandfather in the interview was ticking a lot of boxes for this gig.

by phatfish

5/16/2026 at 12:17:32 AM

UK gov really needs to get a grip.

When they're not legislating dystopian privacy invading rules they're voluntarily hand over citizen medical data or letting shit like this fly.

by Havoc