A former Labour minister, a Ukip MEP and a US arch conspiracy theorist gathered in a field just outside Watford on Thursday with one shared objective: to get the minutes of a meeting taking place inside the luxury hotel on the horizon.
Two hundred protesters were penned in by police and G4S guards on the edge of the estate in the English countryside where the Bilderberg group of political and business leaders has begun its secretive annual three-day event.
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Fleets of Mercedes cars with blacked-out windows sped past, possibly transporting any of the 140 people named on the guest list. Invitees ranged from George Osborne, British chancellor, to José Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission, and Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, to Peter Sutherland, chairman of Goldman Sachs International.
“Scum!”, “Maggots!” and “Pay your taxes!”, demonstrators shouted at the cars, despite not being able to identify the passengers. Some refused to call themselves protesters, saying they objected to the lack of transparency but could not protest against decisions they did not know about.
Michael Meacher, a Labour backbencher and former environment minister, was among the throng. He said the secrecy surrounding the meeting was “utterly anti-democratic”. He has asked the speaker of the House of Commons for an urgent question to demand that Mr Osborne reveals any plans made in the red-brick hotel.
“This is arguably the most important meeting of the leaders of western finance capitalism this year,” he said. “I don’t think they attend for just the tea and coffee.”
Mr Meacher was on unlikely shared ground with Gerard Batten, a Ukip MEP for London, who suspected that decisions about Europe would be made during the meeting. “If they want to fix the world’s problems, they do have to bring the people with them,” he said.
Founded in 1954, Bilderberg was designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America during the cold war. This year, it will discuss topics including growth, US foreign policy, cyber warfare, big data, Africa and the Middle-East.
Once cloaked in a shroud of secrecy, it has been slowly opening up over the past decade: it now has a website and publishes an agenda and a list of participants. It insists that no resolutions are proposed and no votes are taken.
But that assurance has not been enough for protesters. Placards connecting the event with everything from eugenics to paedophilia show how the silence from inside the building has led to speculation outside.
“Bilderberg ate my hamster,” reads one large banner draped across the metal barriers.
“We are assaulting the Bilderberg group with the search lights of publicity. Like Count Dracula!” bellowed Alex Jones, an American radio host and conspiracy theorist, from the middle of a swarm of supporters. His cornucopia of theories have included a plot to kill 80 per cent of the world’s population and a plan to combine the US and the EU into a single super state.
Other campaigners connected the meeting with real world events, drawing parallels between the lack of transparency at Bilderberg and the lobbying scandal which has hit British politics in the past couple of weeks.
Hanging up at the heavily-guarded entrance to the field of protesters, one sardonic sign read: “Lobbying register: all corporate lobbyists please sign in here.”
. . .
VIP guest list
Delegates include:
Marcus Agius, former Barclays chairman;
Ed Balls, shadow chancellor;
José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president;
Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO;
Ken Clarke, minister;
Robert Dudley, BP CEO;
Douglas Flint, HSBC chairman;
Tim Geithner, former US Treasury Secretary;
Stuart Gulliver, HSBC CEO;
Henry Kissinger, former US secretary of state;
Henry Kravis, KKR chairman;
Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director;
Peter Mandelson, former minister;
Mario Monti, former Italian PM;
Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands;
Jorma Ollila, Royal Dutch Shell chairman;
George Osborne, chancellor;
David Petraeus, former CIA director;
Viviane Reding, European commissioner;
Robert Rubin, former US treasury secretary;
Mark Rutte, Dutch PM;
Eric Schmidt, Google chairman;
Martin Wolf, FT chief economics commentator
Marcus Agius, former Barclays chairman;
Ed Balls, shadow chancellor;
José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president;
Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO;
Ken Clarke, minister;
Robert Dudley, BP CEO;
Douglas Flint, HSBC chairman;
Tim Geithner, former US Treasury Secretary;
Stuart Gulliver, HSBC CEO;
Henry Kissinger, former US secretary of state;
Henry Kravis, KKR chairman;
Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director;
Peter Mandelson, former minister;
Mario Monti, former Italian PM;
Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands;
Jorma Ollila, Royal Dutch Shell chairman;
George Osborne, chancellor;
David Petraeus, former CIA director;
Viviane Reding, European commissioner;
Robert Rubin, former US treasury secretary;
Mark Rutte, Dutch PM;
Eric Schmidt, Google chairman;
Martin Wolf, FT chief economics commentator
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