Don’t knock Palantir, it provides highly skilled, well-paid British jobs | Letter

Tom Watson responds to an article by Clive Lewis about the former Labour deputy leader’s new job at the technology company

Clive Lewis is, unusually, right about one thing in his recent article: there is a danger of rot setting in ( Tom Watson’s move to Palantir is the latest sign of how far the rot has spread in UK politics, 24 September ). But I think he is looking in the wrong place.

Attack me if you want, Clive. I’ve been around long enough to take it. But don’t malign the nearly 1,000 people I now have the privilege of working alongside.

We are predominantly a young workforce. Our average age is under 30. We are engineers, software developers and people who have chosen to build their careers here in Britain. We help nurses and doctors improve public services. We help our armed forces and police keep us safe. And we are proud of what we do.

Nearly one in five of Palantir’s global workforce is based here in the UK. These are highly skilled, well-paid British jobs that most countries would welcome.

There is a respectable argument to be had about technology, power and accountability. But a politics that treats the people building Britain’s technological future as part of the problem is unlikely to leave us with much of a technological future. Tom Watson Senior vice-president, Palantir UK