By Gillian Tett

When the World Economic Forum published its annual risk assessment report earlier this month, it featured a fascinating detail: for the first time ever, the issue of “income disparity” featured on the list of risks that WEF members expected to see this year.

More startling, this risk actually topped the list, beating out issues such as financial collapse, fiscal crisis or environmental issues. Welcome to a theme that I expect to crop up repeatedly in debate this week in Davos.

As the annual WEF meeting gets underway, the Occupy Wall Street movement has not yet stormed any cocktail parties (although I am told that protesters have built an igloo). But the issue of social and political protest is creeping into debate, even amid the canapés and wine.

As many depart on Saturday morning (including myself), it is time for an assessment of my Davos 2011 four day experience.

First and foremost, an extraordinary, intense and unique experience. There is even now (after 40 years) nothing like it. Forcefully and entrepreneurially driven by (Sir) Klaus Schwab, it really does bring the political, business and NGO elites together in an engaging way.

Over the last couple of days delegates have been following the unfolding events in Egypt and Yemen and speculating on the wider significance across the region. I saw one man carrying his laptop open down the snowy street watching the news. Last night at Bono’s One party an earnest young Iranian American woman told me why she was convinced this was a tipping point for the whole region.

As kick-off time approached the crowd for David Cameron was smaller than Sarkozy’s, but Our Man didn’t empty the room with his As to Qs, as Sarkozy had done. He fielded the questions himself, they weren’t planted (or didn’t seem to be), so in the second half England edged ahead. As was evident last year, with the Davos audience Cameron has a certain je ne sais quoi.