You had to feel some sympathy for Ed Balls the other day.
Being in opposition is never easy and there he was, trying to get into The Bilderberg Conference and he’d forgotten his ID badge.
The whole embarrassing scene was filmed by someone who then gave the tape to the InfoWars website, who think that Bilderberg is a meeting of the global elite who plot and scheme about how the capitalist world should be run.
So not a good day for Balls.
We’ve all had them of course. You turn up at a conference and realise you’ve forgotten your badge, and then have to blag your way in the best you can.
Unfortunately for Balls, the two policemen guarding the entrance to the event, which was being held this year in Copenhagen, were not overly impressed by the UK Shadow Chancellor saying his name was on the list. (Isn’t that the line you use outside nightclubs?) Nor were they moved when he showed them his passport.
As the equally embarrassed aide stood by, Balls fumbled through his numerous files, but no luck, the elusive ID Badge was no-where to be found. So he and his aide were sent away, a little shame-faced.
If Balls wanted to keep his visit to the 62nd Bilderberg meeting on the ‘qt’, given that the conspiracy theorists see it as a vipers nest of capitalism, then this little episode won’t have done him much good at all.
However a lesson learnt – what’s the betting he never again mislays his ID badge?
And just in case you wanted to know a little more about the Bilderberg meetings, here is what they say on their website:
“Founded in 1954, Bilderberg is an annual conference designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. Every year, between 120-150 political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media are invited to take part in the conference. About two thirds of the participants come from Europe and the rest from North America; one third from politics and government and the rest from other fields. The conference is a forum for informal discussions about megatrends and major issues facing the world. The meetings are held under the Chatham House Rule, which states that participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s) nor of any other participant may be revealed. Thanks to the private nature of the conference, the participants are not bound by the conventions of their office or by pre-agreed positions. As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights. There is no detailed agenda, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued.”
So there we are then, enough said.
