Britain is building a digital state…

…but a handful of private companies may end up holding the leverage.

Parliament has already called it an “unacceptable point of weakness.”

My latest in Forbes!

Palantir’s role in Britain’s digital state is expanding.

- £182m NHS data platform (£330m potential)
- £240m MoD operational deal
- Up to £1.5bn UK defence investment
- Former senior officials at Palantir
- £50m Met deal blocked over procurement

Parliament has already called Palantir’s growing presence an “unacceptable point of weakness”.

The real danger is lock-in. Once critical systems become too difficult to move, the supplier gains leverage.

My latest for Forbes:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2026/08/20/who-is-gaining-control-of-britains-digital-state/

Who actually receives the UK’s £109.7 billion debt interest bill?

Roughly:
- 33.4% overseas investors
- 21.1% UK pension funds and insurers
- 18.5% Bank of England APF
- 27% Banks & other holders

As long-term gilt yields hit their highest levels in nearly two decades, the cost of rolling over and adding to the £2.9 trillion debt keeps rising.

British taxpayers are funding this interest bill. That money could be going to defence, the NHS or schools.

Instead a large share goes to overseas investors, pension funds and banks.

Every extra pound spent on rising debt interest is a pound taken from the things people actually want government to fund.

Source: UK Debt Management Report 2026-27, Chart A.9

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/debt-management-report-2026-27

Britain will spend £109 BILLION on debt interest this year.

That is more than:

- The entire Education budget
- The entire Defence budget
- Nearly 4× the Transport budget
- More than 5× the Home Office budget
- Nearly 8× the Justice budget
- Roughly half the Health and Social Care (NHS) budget

That is the equivalent of around £3,220 per working person per year, or £268 a month, just to service the national debt.

The debt is rising by roughly £4,000 to £4,300 every second.

At a time when people are already being squeezed by the cost of living, a huge amount of the tax they pay is being swallowed up by interest on old debt rather than paying for the services they actually use.

After all that, the £2.9 trillion debt is still there.

https://uknationaldebt.com/

Snapshot of the live UK National Debt Clock taken at 7:12 am on 18 Aug 2026.

Another KYC honeypot breached. FFS!

I told Tom Swarbrick on LBC that I pay my beautician in Bitcoin for my eyelashes.

It was not the answer he was expecting.

She understands the utility, the value and holds it in self custody.