At the BCC Business Convention in Birmingham this week. The train up on Sunday was delayed while a kidnap victim was freed from a car filled with gas canisters. West Midlands police and the regional army bomb disposal performed admirably to rescue him and end the threat.
Many big names at the conference, from all parties and a real potential for a fistfight, but in the end nothing explosive.
In the left corner, the Minister for Economic Competitiveness and Small Business, Baronness Shriti "Green Shoots" Vadera, back on the public speaking circuit after being slammed for her optimistic economic predictions in January.
In the right corner, shadow business secretary Ken "BATman" Clarke, who has been exceptionally critical of Alistair Darling's budget after his return to the party earlier this year.
And in the other corner, leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick "Calamity" Clegg, who has helped lead MPs' rejection of Gordon Brown's reforms to expenses. Not exactly a vote winner, but what can you do?
It was the latter who commented on today's Equality Bill, agreeing with the principle but criticising the timing.
"The principle behind the equality is absolutely right, but the devil is in the detail," he told gathered reporters. "How you apply those measures and introduce it over a period of time, that is where the debate will be."
One of the measures includes forcing all firms with 250 or more staff to publish gender pay gaps by 2013 if improvement isn't made by then.
This was slammed by Clarke, who went a step further than Clegg to describe the requirement as another example of "bureaucratic legislation".
"We have existing legislation which requires people to pay equal pay for equivalent jobs, and we need to find some ways of making sure that can be applied in a sensible and effective fashion," he said. "How far you can keep on producing legislation because it's the run up to an election, I'm not sure."
But Baroness Vadera rejected both the claims, saying that the UK couldn't afford to put off pay parity any longer.
"I understand the concerns about the equalities legislation, but I would like to clarify that it allows us to require companies to report on gender pay gaps only after 2013, and only if we find voluntary arrangements are not working, so you don't have to be distracted by it now," she told delegates.
"I should also say, that the gender pay gap contributes to women's reduced participation and loss of skills to the economy, which is estimated to cost 1.3-2% of GDP. It's important not to let this last any longer."
No knock-outs from the three contenders, despite sharing the stage for a panel discussion early on. The audience clearly wanted a bit of bite from any of the politicians, but there was none to be had.
Nevertheless, the Equality Bill will be a mainstay in the press over the coming days as more elements are revealed, so stay tuned.
"The principle behind the equality is absolutely right, but the devil is in the detail," he told gathered reporters. "How you apply those measures and introduce it over a period of time, that is where the debate will be."
One of the measures includes forcing all firms with 250 or more staff to publish gender pay gaps by 2013 if improvement isn't made by then.
This was slammed by Clarke, who went a step further than Clegg to describe the requirement as another example of "bureaucratic legislation".
"We have existing legislation which requires people to pay equal pay for equivalent jobs, and we need to find some ways of making sure that can be applied in a sensible and effective fashion," he said. "How far you can keep on producing legislation because it's the run up to an election, I'm not sure."
But Baroness Vadera rejected both the claims, saying that the UK couldn't afford to put off pay parity any longer.
"I understand the concerns about the equalities legislation, but I would like to clarify that it allows us to require companies to report on gender pay gaps only after 2013, and only if we find voluntary arrangements are not working, so you don't have to be distracted by it now," she told delegates.
"I should also say, that the gender pay gap contributes to women's reduced participation and loss of skills to the economy, which is estimated to cost 1.3-2% of GDP. It's important not to let this last any longer."
No knock-outs from the three contenders, despite sharing the stage for a panel discussion early on. The audience clearly wanted a bit of bite from any of the politicians, but there was none to be had.
Nevertheless, the Equality Bill will be a mainstay in the press over the coming days as more elements are revealed, so stay tuned.
