Alarm caused by posts of Alex Karp, tech firm’s CEO, championing US military dominance and of AI weapons
The US spy tech company Palantir published a manifesto extolling the benefits of American power and implying some cultures are inferior to others – in what MPs have called “a parody of a RoboCop film” and “the ramblings of a supervillain”.
“Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive,” wrote Palantir in a 22-point post on X over the weekend, which also called for an end to the “postwar neutering” of Germany and Japan.
The post exhorted the US to reinstate a military draft, saying that “free and democratic societies” need “hard power” in order to prevail.
It also predicted a future dominated by autonomous weapons: “The question is not whether A.I. weapons will be built; it is who will build them and for what purpose. Our adversaries will not pause to indulge in theatrical debates about the merits of developing technologies with critical military and national security applications. They will proceed.”
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It led to criticism from several MPs, who said that it raised yet more questions about the UK’s portfolio of contracts with the company. Palantir has built up more than £500m in contracts in Britain, including a £330m contract with the NHS, as well as deals with the police and Ministry of Defence. These deals have come in for increasing criticism.
“Palantir’s manifesto, which embraces AI state surveillance of citizens along with national service in the USA, is either a parody of a RoboCop film, or a disturbing narcissistic rant from an arrogant organisation,” said Martin Wrigley, a Liberal Democrat MP who is a member of the commons science and technology select committee.
“Either way it shows that the company’s ethos is entirely unsuited to working on UK government projects involving citizens’ most sensitive private data.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has accepted more than half a million pounds from foreign companies, governments, and donors while serving as an MP, DeSmog can reveal.
Since July 2024, when he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Clacton, Farage has received almost £2 million in income and gifts, with £675,000 coming from foreign sources. Of Farage’s 28 benefactors, 20 are based abroad (71 percent).
This comes amid growing scrutiny of the foreign influences on British democracy following attempts by the Labour government to clamp down on overseas donations to UK political parties.
Farage’s largest foreign income stream has been Cameo – the U.S. platform where celebrities record videos for money – earning £222,000 on the site since being elected to Parliament. Farage has now deleted his profile on the platform after a Guardian investigation found he had sold Cameo videos repeating extremist slogans and endorsing a neo-Nazi event.
This income has been received on top of Farage’s £94,000 a year public salary.
Labour’s chair Anna Turley said: “Nigel Farage rarely turns up to do his actual job. Yet he finds time to jet off around the world on his donor’s private plane and trouser half a million quid while families struggle. Reform are not on your side. They’re just in it for themselves.”
A version of this article was published by The Mirror.
The Reform leader has also been paid for a range of foreign speaking events, including £40,000 to address Nomad Capitalist Live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in September 2024. Nomad Capitalist, which is based in Hong Kong, advises the super rich on how to cut their tax bills.
Farage has also received gifts from foreign governments. As revealed by DeSmog, the Abu Dhabi government provided tickets and hospitality worth £10,000 for Farage to attend the local Formula One Grand Prix in December.
“At a time when trust in politics is at rock bottom, the public deserves absolute confidence that their MPs are working solely in service of their constituents and their country, not dancing to the tune of foreign interests,” said Kamila Kingstone, senior campaign lead at Spotlight on Corruption.
“Cases like this make it painfully clear that transparency alone is not enough and that the current system leaves far too much room for foreign influence. The government urgently needs to impose tougher limits on MPs’ second jobs and on the gifts and payments they are allowed to accept, so that public service cannot be overshadowed by private gain.”
Despite claiming to represent working-class voters, Farage – the UK’s highest-paid MP – has also received private jet trips worth £85,000 from major Reform donor Christopher Harborne. A billionaire cryptocurrency investor, Harborne is based in Thailand, where he has lived for over 20 years.
Farage is a major backer of cryptocurrencies, and has £215,000 invested in a UK Bitcoin treasury, Stack BTC – owned by Paul Withers, who runs the gold exchange Direct Bullion, which has paid Farage more than £500,000 since he became an MP. Farage’s Stack BTC shares have reportedly doubled in value since he bought them, largely due to the fanfare around his investment.
Harborne is Reform’s biggest donor, having given £12 million to the party last year and more than £22 million since 2019. However, his contributions to the party are now in jeopardy after Labour introduced new rules that cap donations from overseas residents to £100,000 a year.
Earlier this month, crypto entrepreneur and right-wing philanthropist Ben Delo said he had given £4 million to Reform and would be moving back to the UK in order to circumvent the government’s new donation rules.
“Farage is bought and paid for by vested interests,” Green Party deputy leader Rachel Millward said. “Clearly, his disdain for foreign people does not extend to those who want to give him money to advance his hateful agenda. He loves open borders when it comes to cash!”
Reform UK is the UK’s leading anti-climate party, with several of its senior figures – including Farage – denying basic climate science. The Reform leader has claimed it’s “absolutely nuts” for CO2 to be considered a pollutant, while his deputy Richard Tice has called it “plant food”.
Of the £1.3 million earned by Farage from UK sources, a number are closely connected to overseas interests. GB News, Farage’s largest single source of income, is co-owned by the Legatum Group – a Dubai-based investment vehicle – and hedge fund manager Paul Marshall, whose firm is 40 percent owned by U.S. private equity giant KKR.
Reform and Farage were approached for comment.
Foreign Influences on Farage
Reform has close connections to a number of foreign regimes and influential overseas interests.
Farage is one of U.S. President Donald Trump’s most vocal European allies, having repeatedly campaigned for his election – including in 2016, when Farage was the first foreign politician to be given an audience with Trump following his presidential victory.
Farage is also well connected in Trump’s MAGA movement.
“He’s seen as the elder statesman. He almost has senator status. If England were the 51st state, Nigel Farage would be one of the senators,” one of his longstanding friends, Raheem Kassam, told the New Statesman in December.
As documented by DeSmog, Farage has been helping the Heartland Institute – an influential pro-Trump climate science denial group – to extend its influence in the UK and Europe.
The Heartland Institute was one of the groups behind Project 2025 – the authoritarian blueprint for Trump’s second term, convened by the Heritage Foundation.
According to The Spectator, key people from Project 2025 “have been shuttling between London and Washington” to give their advice to Farage.
And the Reform leader has earned thousands from MAGA events since he became an MP.
In the past year, Farage has been paid more than £11,000 to speak at Hillsdale College – a conservative university in Michigan – and nearly £28,000 to speak at the ‘Club for Growth’, a lobby group that has endorsed and campaigned for Trump.
Farage has also racked up donor-funded flights worth at least £150,000 to speak at pro-Trump events since he was elected to Parliament, and has received £47,000 from Trump-donating U.S. tech giants X Corp, Google, and Meta.
But Trump’s America is not the only foreign regime with financial ties to Farage and his party.
In addition to the F1 hospitality given to Farage by the Abu Dhabi government in December, other senior figures in Reform are in business with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, December 2025.
Credit: Nigel Farage / X
In October 2024, the party’s treasurer Nick Candy entered into a “strategic joint venture partnership” with Modon Holding – a real estate company owned by the Abu Dhabi government – via his firm Candy Capital. He has also partnered with the state-owned Dubai World Trade Centre to develop “super-prime” properties on the site.
Meanwhile, Reform’s Nadhim Zahawi – a former Tory minister who defected to Farage’s party in January – is a senior figure at Omniyat, a luxury property developer in Dubai. Farage convened a group of prospective patrons in Dubai earlier this year in an attempt to convince them to donate to the party.
As a result, campaigners are urging the government to close the political finance loopholes that allow foreign regimes and big money interests to shape UK policy.
“An MP’s only real job should be representing their constituents,” said Tom Brake, director of the campaign group Unlock Democracy. “Yet sadly, for some MPs, supplementing their own income appears to have greater appeal.
“This is bad enough, but what is even more concerning is when MPs receive income from foreign sources, particularly foreign governments or organisations closely aligned with them. These financial relationships always risk giving undue influence and leverage to foreign entities, which UK legislators should avoid at all costs.”
In March, the Rycroft Review was released, a government report from former Foreign Office permanent secretary Philip Rycroft, which summarised the threats to British democracy from overseas actors.
“This country faces a persistent problem of foreign interests seeking to exert influence on, and to interfere in, our politics,” Rycroft said. “Too much of this is malign and seeks to sow distrust and exacerbate divisions in UK society, with the ultimate aim of undermining confidence in our democracy… If government does not act swiftly to gear up to counter these threats, there is a real risk they will run away from us.”
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.Climate science denier Nigel Farage explains that it’s simple to blame asylum-seekers or Muslims for everything.Nigel Farage reminds you that he’s the man that brought you Brexit and asks what could possibly go wrong.
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Relatives of the deceased, including children, mourn during the funeral for two Palestinians killed in an Israeli attack on Bureij camp, in Deir al Balah, Gaza, Palestine on April 20, 2026. [Moiz Salhi – Anadolu Agency]
The UN said Tuesday that violence in the Gaza Strip surged to its highest since a ceasefire on Oct. 10, 2025, with incidents rising nearly half compared to the previous week, Anadolu reports.
“Our partners on the ground report that between 12 and 18 April, incidents such as gunfire, shelling and strikes increased by 46 percent compared with the previous week, marking the highest weekly total since the October ceasefire agreement went into effect,” said spokesperson Stephane Dujarric at a news conference.
Dujarric noted that “the North Gaza, Gaza and Deir al Balah governorates saw the sharpest increases.”
On the humanitarian front, he warned that restrictions were hampering efforts to address the threat of unexploded ordnance across the territory.
While mine action partners had conducted education sessions for tens of thousands of civilians, he said that “addressing this threat more effectively requires the entry of specialized equipment and a full range of clearance and disposal activities.”
“Restrictions, including limitations on the entry of equipment needed to dispose of explosive ordnance, continue to hamper the overall humanitarian response,” he added.
The attacks come as part of ongoing Israeli violations of the ceasefire.
The Gaza Media Office said Israeli forces have committed 2,400 violations since the agreement, including killings, arrests, blockades and starvation measures.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the violations have resulted in the deaths of 777 Palestinians and injuries to 2,193 as of Monday.
The ceasefire followed two years of Israel’s genocidal war that began in October 2023, which has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, and wounded over 172,000, while destroying 90% of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, according to official figures.
Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Dujarric pointed to the troubling pattern of Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank.
He said that “during the first quarter of the year, 33 Palestinians have been killed and 790 injured by Israeli forces or settlers, while over 540 Israeli settler attacks caused casualties or property damage.”
He stressed that “attacks affecting civilians must be investigated and civilians must be protected,” and that Israel, as the occupying power, “has an obligation to protect the Palestinian population, and perpetrators must be held accountable in line with international humanitarian law.”
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Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it’s easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion.
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Israeli soldiers stand near an Israeli flag in a village in southern Lebanon as seen from a position on the Israeli side of the border on January 23, 2025 in Northern Israel, Israel. [Amir Levy/Getty Images]
The Israeli army claimed Tuesday that Hezbollah fired several rockets at its positions in southern Lebanon, describing the incident as a violation of a ceasefire agreement, Anadolu reports.
A military statement said that the rockets were launched toward Israeli soldiers operating south of what it described as “the Forward Defense Line” in the area of Rab al-Thalathine.
Israeli forces responded by striking the launcher used in the attack, the statement added.
The army also said that sirens in northern Israel, including in the areas of Kfar Yuval and Ma’ayan Baruch, were likely triggered by the interception of a drone launched from Lebanon before it crossed into Israel.
“The launches constitute a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the statement said.
There was no comment from Hezbollah on the Israeli claims.
On Sunday, the Israeli army published a map outlining what it called a “forward defense line,” showing where its forces are operating in southern Lebanon.
The army had earlier referred to a “Yellow Line” in Lebanon, similar to a designation used in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli media reported that the so-called yellow line is an unofficial boundary drawn south of the Litani River, running parallel to the Blue Line along the border and extending between 4 and 10 kilometers into Lebanese territory.
The line stretches from Naqoura in the west to Khiam in the northeast, passing through towns including Shaqra, Aita al-Shaab, Bint Jbeil, and Adaisseh, according to the reports.
The total area between the so-called yellow and blue lines is not clear, but Israeli media reported that Israeli forces are present in about 55 towns and villages in southern Lebanon.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday that Israel intends to maintain control over all areas it has occupied in southern Lebanon during the latest offensive.
US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon on Thursday following calls with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Since March 2, Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 2,294 people, injured 7,544 others, and displaced more than one million, according to official figures.
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Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it’s easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Ambulances belonging to Egypt’s Ministry of Health stand ready on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing for the transfer of Palestinian patients from Gaza and possible emergency needs, in Rafah, Egypt, on February 8, 2026. [Ahmed Sayed – Anadolu Agency]
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said Israel is continuing to tighten its blockade on the Gaza Strip by closing crossings and controlling the entry of aid and the number of travellers through the Rafah crossing.
In a video statement on Monday, Qassem said the Rafah crossing had been closed while severe restrictions on aid deliveries remain in place. He added that Israel had not met the agreed number of aid trucks allowed into Gaza, with fewer than half entering, alongside continued limits on the number of travellers.
Qassem said Israel is pursuing a policy of “engineering starvation” in Gaza, pointing to rising prices of basic goods as hunger deepens, as well as ongoing violations including shelling and killings, such as those reported early on Monday.
He added that what is happening reflects a systematic Israeli policy of violations, calling for a “genuine stance” from mediators and guarantor states, as well as what he described as the “Board of Peace”, to put an end to these actions and lift the blockade on Gaza after two years of what he described as genocide.
Meanwhile, Ismail Al-Thawabta, Director General of the Government Media Office, said the humanitarian crisis in the enclave has reached unprecedented levels amid the continued closure of crossings, particularly the Rafah crossing.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Donald Trump warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog, says that it’s easy atm, she only needs to report war crimes supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion.
