Bill Carmichael: One last chance for has-beens at Davos

When I’d finally stopped laughing at this, I recalled another stunt a few years back when a group of environmental activists sailed to Antarctica to prove that all the glaciers were melting. Their ship got stuck in the ice – and the weather turned so extreme that the ice-breaker ship sent to rescue them also got stuck. Eventually, helicopters were used to rescue them from the ice that they insisted didn’t exist.

Scientifically, of course, this proves absolutely nothing – weather and climate are different things – although perhaps it suggests that the Almighty has a wicked sense of humour. But besides giving us all good laugh – and providing an alternative to skiing for posh eco-protesters – what exactly is the point of the Davos event, now in its 47th year?

It attracts the world’s political elites, sprinkled with a dusting of starry celebrities, who gather to lecture the little people like us on how we should live our lives, usually while quaffing champagne at one of the numerous lavish parties.

They fly in, frequently on private jets, pay £20,000 for a ticket, plus extortionate hotel bills, attend a few banquets and then bemoan how the excessive consumption of greedy ordinary folk is likely to destroy the planet.

The event, devised by academic Klaus Schwab, this year has 3,000 participants, including 900 chief executives of major companies and more than 70 world leaders. The guest list is stellar, and this year includes Theresa May, the French president Emmanuel Macron, Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi and even Marxist John McDonnell, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor. Up the workers!

On the celebrity side there’s Cate Blanchett, Sir Elton John and someone, apparently a singer, who goes by the name Will.i.am. No, I’ve no idea either.

But the headline act is undoubtedly US President Donald Trump who is to give the closing speech later today, in which he is expected to justify his “America First” trade policy, which many fear could lead to protectionism and damaging trade wars.

At least this has a bit of substance – the world’s most powerful man explaining how he sees the future of international trade should provide some insights into US policy.

Trump’s protectionist instincts are the reason that many, including myself, had doubts about his leadership of the US. One thing we have learned about Trump during his first year in office is that, unlike most conventional politicians, he delivers on his election promises.

And sure enough this week the US imposed tariffs of up to 50 per cent on imported washing machines and solar panels, angering China and South Korea.

But the rest of the Davos event seems a lot of froth and nonsense from a group of has-beens and hangers-on.

For example former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair popped in to justify his view that the British people must be forced to keep voting on EU membership until we eventually come up with a result that is acceptable to him and his establishment chums. At which point, presumably, the voting stops and we’ll be told to accept the result. One thing’s for sure, if that happens we’ll never get another chance at a referendum.

Another former Prime Minister, David Cameron, was also there and in an unguarded moment, when he didn’t realise he was being recorded, he admitted that Brexit had not proved to be the disaster he so confidently predicted in 2016.

Well-done, Dave! You have finally grasped something that has been blindingly obvious to the rest of us for the last 18 months. Project Fear was a total nonsense.

This is at least encouraging. It suggests that when faced with hard evidence such as record employment, bulging export books, healthy growth, growing investment and a booming stock market, that even the most extremist Remainers can be forced to change their minds.

No doubt with so many powerful chief executives attending, deals will be done at Davos – but I suspect these will happen during strictly private meetings far away from the gaze of journalists and the rest of the hoi polloi.

But on the surface it seems to be an event designed to massage the egos of 
the likes of Blair and Cameron and convince them that they are still important, when in truth the world 
has long since moved on.