Tory minister to speak at Google’s conference: Willetts to address search engine chairman at annual event

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Tory minister to speak at Google’s conference: Willetts to address search engine chairman at annual event

May 21st, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

David Willett’s will deliver speech at event attended by executive chairman Eric Schmidt
Mail revealed there have been 23 meetings between Tory ministers and Google since the election

By
Daniel Martin

PUBLISHED:

18:24 EST, 20 May 2012

|

UPDATED:

19:26 EST, 20 May 2012

Close: Universities minister David Willetts will speak at a Google conference days after the Mail revealed the company's 23 meetings with Tory ministers

Close: Universities minister David Willetts will speak at a Google conference days after the Mail revealed the company’s 23 meetings with Tory ministers

A senior Conservative will be cosying up to Google this week, days after the Daily Mail revealed the extraordinarily close relationship between the Tories and the technology firm.

On Wednesday, Science Minister David Willetts will speak at Big Tent, an annual media event organised by Google and attended by its executive chairman Eric Schmidt.

It will take place in Hertfordshire following the secretive Zeitgeist conference, which begins today. David Cameron spoke at the gathering in 2006, and in 2007 was flown to California to address its US equivalent.

Google has not announced who will be at this year’s Zeitgeist, but former US president Bill Clinton is expected to attend.

A guest list which was leaked last month also included singer Annie Lennox, Jim O’Neill from Goldman Sachs, model and actress Lily Cole and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

The Grove hotel will host both events.

Mr Willetts’s speech will come days after the Mail revealed there have been 23 official meetings between Tory ministers and Google since the general election – the equivalent of one a month.

The links are so strong that in recent years at least three senior figures have moved between the Tories and Google.

History: David Cameron spoke at the Google Zeitgeist conference in 2006 and 2007

Saturday's Daily Mail

Saturday’s Daily Mail

The Prime Minister has met Google executives three times since the election, while Chancellor George Osborne has held four meetings.

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has met the firm’s staff seven times, and his boss, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, has met them four times.

Mr Willetts had one meeting with a Google executive, in January 2011.

The revelations led to concerns that the internet giant has the ear of the Government on a host of sensitive topics.

Labour says the Conservatives have avoided tackling online porn because of their close relationship with the company. The party’s media spokesman Helen Goodman said: ‘Of course it is important for ministers to listen to business, but a meeting with Google every month does look like the sort of privileged access that small businesses can only dream of.’

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt - currently under pressure over his links to another media giant, News Corp - has held four meetings with the web giant
Culture minister Ed Vaizey has met Google no fewer than seven times

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, left, has had four meetings with Google, while Ed Vaizey, the Culture Minister has met Google chiefs seven times

Last week a spokesman for Google said: ‘It’s absolutely right that governments speak with companies about issues that affect their citizens.

‘The British Government makes the list of those meetings publicly available – including the Daily Mail’s 34 meetings over the same period.’

Yesterday the firm insisted Big Tent was a ‘public conference to debate the internet and society’. It added: ‘The science and universities minister is one of a wide range of speakers, including Amanda Platell from the Daily Mail, who will talk about these important matters.’

Other Big Tent speakers will include Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow, Father Ted writer Graham Linehan and Damian Tambini, an academic at the LSE. Last year’s line-up included Big Brother producer Peter Bazalgette, Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts and senior Tory Mr Hunt.

Attendees discussed topics such as ‘What was the role of technology in the revolutions in the Middle East?’, ‘What are the limits of free speech online?’, ‘Do we need tougher privacy laws or are we in danger of stifling innovation?’ and ‘Can technology and access to information be used to help prevent conflict?’.