2013 Bilderberg Conference

The 2013 Bilderberg Conference took place June 6–9, 2013, at The Grove hotel in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. It was the first Bilderberg Group conference to be held in the United Kingdom since the 1998 meeting in Turnberry, Scotland.

The Daily Telegraph likened the annual conference to "a political version of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which draws members of high society to discuss business and the economy." A British Member of Parliament and former Bilderberg attendee quoted by the Independent on Sunday also likened the annual conference to the World Economic Forum, and said it was "...not that exciting, in fact it's a bit run of the mill".

Around 140 participants are expected to participate in the meetings annually. Attendance to the event is by invitation only. No delegates pay to attend the conferences, and no delegates attend by conference phone or satellite. The conference programme never includes entertainment or performances.

The confidential nature of Bilderberg led to criticism of the group's lack of transparency and accountability, along with concerns about potential lobbying. Outside the 2013 meeting, Labour MP Michael Meacher said, "If there is any conference which required transparency, which required democratic accountability, it is the Bilderberg conference because this is really where the top brass of Western finance capitalism meet ... including government ministers." Conservative MP Douglas Carswell was also concerned about the privacy of the meetings, by saying "...you would have thought the least our ruling elite could do is discuss these issues in public."

There has also been speculation from conspiracy theorists about the purpose of the meetings. The secretive approach to staging the conferences has led to the younger generation of Bilderberg attendees being uncomfortable with the policy of total media exclusion, as reported by the Independent on Sunday. A previous attendee told the Independent that he sympathised with "those who tell us the confidentiality policy only encourages the conspiracy theorists. It does."

Of the format and outcome of the conference, the Bilderberg website said, "There is no detailed agenda, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued."

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