A huge security operation is underway today ahead of the clandestine Bilderberg conference starting at a five-star hotel in Hertfordshire tomorrow.
Anti-capitalists are planning to descend on the secret annual meeting of the world’s leading politicians, bankers, academics and business minds.
It is being held at the exclusive Grove Hotel near Watford, which is now surrounded by a giant fence being guarded by police.
Famous for being shrouded in secrecy, the Bilderberg conference is taking place in Britain for the first time since 1998, and conspiracy theorists believe this is where leaders plot world domination.
Scroll down for full Bilderberg Conference guest list and video…
Luxurious: The secretive conference will take place at the five-star Grove Hotel near Watford, Hertfordshire (pictured) and a major police security operation has started today, which includes adding fencing
Preparations: Police were seen doing security checks in bushes outside the hotel and checking the perimeter
Chancellor George Osborne and his Labour counterpart Ed Balls will be there along with Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt of Google.
But delegates never reveal exactly what is discussed, but it will involve the key issues these leaders believe the world faces.
There is already a heavy police presence in the area because of the fears that the three-day meeting may be disrupted by anti-Globilisation protesters.
Extra fencing was erected in the grounds and footpaths were being closed.
The Grove Hotel, which is set in 300 acres or parkland, is close to the M25, the River Gade and the Grand Union Canal.
Guest list: Chancellor George Osborne and his Labour shadow Ed Balls will attend the Bilderberg Conference
Delegates will be spending three days with the heads of global corporations such as Google, Amazon, Goldman Sachs and BAE Systems as well as other leading figures such as Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, and former US secretary of state, Henry Kissinger.
They are among the 140 people, including only 14 women – who will this week discuss topics such as ‘cyber warfare’ and ‘jobs, entitlement and debt’.
Dorothy Thornhill, the Mayor of Watford has written to the Prime Minister voicing concern about cost of the security operation will have on Hertfordshire’s police budget
Hertfordshire Police said the Bilderberg Group had made a donation to the policing costs of the conference, but would not say how much.
Given the amount of prestigious names set to attend the event at the luxury hotel, local police have been forced to step up security, which will be part-funded by the government.
As a result, there are fears that anti-capitalist protesters will cause ‘violence and disturbance’.
Also attending: Jeff Bezos (left) and Eric Schmidt (right) of Google will be at the clandestine conference
Bilderberg – which will also be attended by former Barclays chairman Marcus Agius – has a shadowy reputation which has come under scrutiny in recent years, forcing organisers to be more open.
A Bilderberg spokesman said in a press release on Monday: ‘The conference has always been a forum for informal, off-the-record discussions about megatrends and the major issues facing the world.
‘Thanks to the private nature of the conference, the participants are not bound by the conventions of office or by pre-agreed positions. As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights.’
Policing resources in Watford have been stretched to accommodate the elite guests that will arrive tomorrow. Protest are expected to break out
The conference was founded in 1954 as an annual event designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. Between 120 and 150 people take part each year.
They will also debate subjects including ‘can the U.S. and Europe grow faster and create jobs’, ‘how big data is changing almost everything’, ‘U.S. foreign policy’ and ‘Africa’s challenges’.
The cloak of secrecy surrounding the meetings bans journalists from attending.
Bilderberg follower Charlie Skelton said today he believes this year’s conference to attract more attention than ever.
He also described how at the 2009 meeting in Greece he was ‘being chased around Athens by the Greek secret police’.
Speaking to the International Business Times he said: ‘I’m expecting quite a large number of people to be coming along to Watford to see it’.
Google has come under fire in recent weeks over reports that it paid just £10million in corporation tax in Britain between 2006 and 2011, despite revenues of £11.9billion.
Amazon said it paid just £2.44million in corporation tax on UK sales of £320million last year – but told investors it in fact turned over 13 times that amount, with British sales of more than £4billion.
BILDERBERG CONFERENCE 2013: FULL LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
| Castries, Henri de (chairman) | Chairman and CEO, AXA Group | |||||||||
| Achleitner, Paul M. | Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Deutsche Bank AG | |||||||||
| Ackermann, Josef | Chairman of the Board, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd | |||||||||
| Agius, Marcus | Former Chairman, Barclays plc | |||||||||
| Alexander, Helen | Chairman, UBM plc | |||||||||
| Altman, Roger C. | Executive Chairman, Evercore Partners | |||||||||
| Apunen, Matti | Director, Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA | |||||||||
| Athey, Susan | Professor of Economics, Stanford Graduate School of Business | |||||||||
| Aydıntaşbaş, Aslı | Columnist, Milliyet Newspaper | |||||||||
| Babacan, Ali | Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Financial Affairs | |||||||||
| Balls, Edward M. | Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer | |||||||||
| Balsemão, Francisco Pinto | Chairman and CEO, IMPRESA | |||||||||
| Barré, Nicolas | Managing Editor, Les Echos | |||||||||
| Barroso, José M. Durão | President, European Commission | |||||||||
| Baverez, Nicolas | Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP | |||||||||
| Bavinchove, Olivier de | Commander, Eurocorps | |||||||||
| Bell, John | Regius Professor of Medicine, University of Oxford | |||||||||
| Bernabè, Franco | Chairman and CEO, Telecom Italia S.p.A. | |||||||||
| Bezos, Jeff | Founder and CEO, Amazon.com | |||||||||
| Bildt, Carl | Minister for Foreign Affairs | |||||||||
| Borg, Anders | Minister for Finance | |||||||||
| Boxmeer, Jean François van | Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO, Heineken N.V. | |||||||||
| Brandtzæg, Svein Richard | President and CEO, Norsk Hydro ASA | |||||||||
| Bronner, Oscar | Publisher, Der Standard Medienwelt | |||||||||
| Carrington, Peter | Former Honorary Chairman, Bilderberg Meetings | |||||||||
| Cebrián, Juan Luis | Executive Chairman, Grupo PRISA | |||||||||
| Clark, W. Edmund | President and CEO, TD Bank Group | |||||||||
| Clarke, Kenneth | Member of Parliament | |||||||||
| Corydon, Bjarne | Minister of Finance | |||||||||
| Cowper-Coles, Sherard | Business Development Director, International, BAE Systems plc | |||||||||
| Cucchiani, Enrico Tommaso | CEO, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA | |||||||||
| Davignon, Etienne | Minister of State; Former Chairman, Bilderberg Meetings | |||||||||
| Davis, Ian | Senior Partner Emeritus, McKinsey & Company | |||||||||
| Dijkgraaf, Robbert H. | Director and Leon Levy Professor, Institute for Advanced Study | |||||||||
| Dinçer, Haluk | President, Retail and Insurance Group, Sabancı Holding A.S. | |||||||||
| Dudley, Robert | Group Chief Executive, BP plc | |||||||||
| Eberstadt, Nicholas N. | Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy, American Enterprise Institute | |||||||||
| Eide, Espen Barth | Minister of Foreign Affairs | |||||||||
| Ekholm, Börje | President and CEO, Investor AB | |||||||||
| Enders, Thomas | CEO, EADS | |||||||||
| Evans, J. Michael | Vice Chairman, Goldman Sachs & Co. | |||||||||
| Federspiel, Ulrik | Executive Vice President, Haldor Topsøe A/S | |||||||||
| Feldstein, Martin S. | Professor of Economics, Harvard University; President Emeritus, NBER | |||||||||
| Fillon, François | Former Prime Minister | |||||||||
| Fishman, Mark C. | President, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research | |||||||||
| Flint, Douglas J. | Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings plc | |||||||||
| Gallagher, Paul | Senior Counsel | |||||||||
| Geithner, Timothy F. | Former Secretary of the Treasury | |||||||||
| Gfoeller, Michael | Political Consultant | |||||||||
| Graham, Donald E. | Chairman and CEO, The Washington Post Company | |||||||||
| Grillo, Ulrich | CEO, Grillo-Werke AG | |||||||||
| Gruber, Lilli | Journalist – Anchorwoman, La 7 TV | |||||||||
| Guindos, Luis de | Minister of Economy and Competitiveness | |||||||||
| Gulliver, Stuart | Group Chief Executive, HSBC Holdings plc | |||||||||
| Gutzwiller, Felix | Member of the Swiss Council of States | |||||||||
| Halberstadt, Victor | Professor of Economics, Leiden University | |||||||||
| Heinonen, Olli | Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School | |||||||||
| Henry, Simon | CFO, Royal Dutch Shell plc | |||||||||
| Hermelin, Paul | Chairman and CEO, Capgemini Group | |||||||||
| Isla, Pablo | Chairman and CEO, Inditex Group | |||||||||
| Jacobs, Kenneth M. | Chairman and CEO, Lazard | |||||||||
| Johnson, James A. | Chairman, Johnson Capital Partners | |||||||||
| Jordan, Thomas J. | Chairman of the Governing Board, Swiss National Bank | |||||||||
| Jordan, Jr., Vernon E. | Managing Director, Lazard Freres & Co. LLC | |||||||||
| Kaplan, Robert D. | Chief Geopolitical Analyst, Stratfor | |||||||||
| Karp, Alex | Founder and CEO, Palantir Technologies | |||||||||
| Kerr, John | Independent Member, House of Lords | |||||||||
| Kissinger, Henry A. | Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc. | |||||||||
| Kleinfeld, Klaus | Chairman and CEO, Alcoa | |||||||||
| Knot, Klaas H.W. | President, De Nederlandsche Bank | |||||||||
| Koç, Mustafa V. | Chairman, Koç Holding A.S. | |||||||||
| Koch, Roland | CEO, Bilfinger SE | |||||||||
| Kravis, Henry R. | Co-Chairman and Co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. | |||||||||
| Kravis, Marie-Josée | Senior Fellow and Vice Chair, Hudson Institute | |||||||||
| Kudelski, André | Chairman and CEO, Kudelski Group | |||||||||
| Kyriacopoulos, Ulysses | Chairman, S&B Industrial Minerals S.A. | |||||||||
| Lagarde, Christine | Managing Director, International Monetary Fund | |||||||||
| Lauk, Kurt J. | Chairman of the Economic Council to the CDU, Berlin | |||||||||
| Lessig, Lawrence | Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership, Harvard Law School | |||||||||
| Leysen, Thomas | Chairman of the Board of Directors, KBC Group | |||||||||
| Lindner, Christian | Party Leader, Free Democratic Party (FDP NRW) | |||||||||
| Löfven, Stefan | Party Leader, Social Democratic Party (SAP) | |||||||||
| Löscher, Peter | President and CEO, Siemens AG | |||||||||
| Mandelson, Peter | Chairman, Global Counsel; Chairman, Lazard International | |||||||||
| Mathews, Jessica T. | President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace | |||||||||
| McKenna, Frank | Chair, Brookfield Asset Management | |||||||||
| Micklethwait, John | Editor-in-Chief, The Economist | |||||||||
| Montbrial, Thierry de | President, French Institute for International Relations | |||||||||
| Monti, Mario | Former Prime Minister | |||||||||
| Mundie, Craig J. | Senior Advisor to the CEO, Microsoft Corporation | |||||||||
| Nagel, Alberto | CEO, Mediobanca | |||||||||
| Netherlands, H.R.H. Princess Beatrix of The | ||||||||||
| Ng, Andrew Y. | Co-Founder, Coursera | |||||||||
| Ollila, Jorma | Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell, plc | |||||||||
| Omand, David | Visiting Professor, King’s College London | |||||||||
| Osborne, George | Chancellor of the Exchequer | |||||||||
| Ottolenghi, Emanuele | Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies | |||||||||
| Özel, Soli | Senior Lecturer, Kadir Has University; Columnist, Habertürk Newspaper | |||||||||
| Papahelas, Alexis | Executive Editor, Kathimerini Newspaper | |||||||||
| Pavey, Şafak | Member of Parliament (CHP) | |||||||||
| Pécresse, Valérie | Member of Parliament (UMP) | |||||||||
| Perle, Richard N. | Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute | |||||||||
| Petraeus, David H. | General, U.S. Army (Retired) | |||||||||
| Portas, Paulo | Minister of State and Foreign Affairs | |||||||||
| Prichard, J. Robert S. | Chair, Torys LLP | |||||||||
| Reding, Viviane | Vice President and Commissioner for Justice, European Commission | |||||||||
| Reisman, Heather M. | CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc. | |||||||||
| Rey, Hélène | Professor of Economics, London Business School | |||||||||
| Robertson, Simon | Partner, Robertson Robey Associates LLP; Deputy Chairman, HSBC Holdings | |||||||||
| Rocca, Gianfelice | Chairman,Techint Group | |||||||||
| Rostowski, Jacek | Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister | |||||||||
| Rubin, Robert E. | Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Secretary of the Treasury | |||||||||
| Rutte, Mark | Prime Minister | |||||||||
| Schieder, Andreas | State Secretary of Finance | |||||||||
| Schmidt, Eric E. | Executive Chairman, Google Inc. | |||||||||
| Scholten, Rudolf | Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG | |||||||||
| Seguro, António José | Secretary General, Socialist Party | |||||||||
| Senard, Jean-Dominique | CEO, Michelin Group | |||||||||
| Skogen Lund, Kristin | Director General, Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise | |||||||||
| Slaughter, Anne-Marie | Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton | |||||||||
| Sutherland, Peter D. | Chairman, Goldman Sachs International | |||||||||
| Taylor, Martin | Former Chairman, Syngenta AG | |||||||||
| Thiam, Tidjane | Group CEO, Prudential plc | |||||||||
| Thiel, Peter A. | President, Thiel Capital | |||||||||
| Thompson, Craig B. | President and CEO, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center | |||||||||
| Topsøe, Jakob Haldor | Partner, AMBROX Capital A/S | |||||||||
| Urpilainen, Jutta | Minister of Finance | |||||||||
| Vasella, Daniel L. | Honorary Chairman, Novartis AG | |||||||||
| Voser, Peter R. | CEO, Royal Dutch Shell plc | |||||||||
| Wall, Brad | Premier of Saskatchewan | |||||||||
| Wallenberg, Jacob | Chairman, Investor AB | |||||||||
| Warsh, Kevin | Distinguished Visiting Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University | |||||||||
| Weston, Galen G. | Executive Chairman, Loblaw Companies Limited | |||||||||
| Williams of Crosby, Shirley | Member, House of Lords | |||||||||
| Wolf, Martin H. | Chief Economics Commentator, The Financial Times | |||||||||
| Wolfensohn, James D. | Chairman and CEO, Wolfensohn and Company | |||||||||
| Wright, David | Vice Chairman, Barclays plc | |||||||||
| Zoellick, Robert B. | Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics | |||||||||
Source: Dailymail
WAIT….ed who?? yea, exactly what everything inside that ring of steel will be smelling like…