Demonstrators protest
as delegates arrive for the Bilderberg group summit at the Grove hotel
in Watford. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images
Tory MP Douglas Carswell accuses prime minister of joining 'unaccountable clique of Davos men' at luxury hotel in Watford
David Cameron has been accused of joining the "unaccountable clique of
Davos men" after he attended the
secretive Bilderberg group
meeting at the luxury Grove hotel in Watford, a move that raised
questions about his pledge to lead Britain's most transparent
government.
Douglas Carswell, the Tory MP who campaigns for
transparency in government, said the prime minister was taking part in a
"cliche fest" whose participants had helped crash the global financial
system. Davos is the town in Switzerland which hosts an annual meeting
of global political and business leaders.
Cameron came under fire after Downing Street said it was acting in an open manner by publicising his attendance at the annual
Bilderberg
meeting in advance. The prime minister's spokesman, who said heads of
government of countries hosting the annual Bilderberg meeting were
usually invited to attend, said it would be a private event and that
civil servants would not accompany Cameron.
Ministers are usually
expected to be accompanied by civil service note-takers when they meet
business leaders. Henri de Castries, the chairman and CEO of the Axa
Group, is the Bilderberg chairman.
The prime minister's spokesman
said: "He will participate in a discussion around domestic and global
economic issues. He feels it is an opportunity to discuss economic
issues with senior ministers, businesspeople and academics."Downing
Street said it would not publicise any details of the meeting: "It is a
private meeting so we are not going to go into any further details."
"On
a wider point the prime minister has always been clear about the
importance of transparency which is why this government has taken a
number of steps in terms of publishing more data, more information about
meetings."
Carswell told the Guardian: "Given the dreadful state
that most European countries are in – and given the appalling public
policy failures that landed us in this mess – you would have thought the
least our ruling elite could do is discuss these issues in public. This
is only going to add to the idea that we are governed by an
unaccountable clique of Davos men
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