It seems the insurance industry can get into Downing Street no problem - but exits are a little more tricky. Nick Starling, director of the Association of British Insurers, must have been happy to have survived an hour in the presence of claimant lawyers.

Indeed, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers conference, held last week in Newport, gave Starling a relatively comfortable time at the microphone. Unfortunately, when it was time to leave the room Starling made a wrong turn, walking into a cupboard rather than the exit - much to the hilarity of hundreds of PI lawyers.

It was a welcome moment of respite at a conference where the message was often downbeat.