Gordon Brown was greeted by cheering Labour activists as he arrived at his the Hilton Brighton Metropole on the eve of the party's conference in Brighton.

Accompanied by wife Sarah - dressed in a simple black dress and cardigan - a beaming Mr Brown shook hands with his deputy, Harriet Harman, and Labour General Secretary Ray Collins.

The Prime Minister said nothing to reporters waiting in the warm September sunshine.

However the PM arrived for the conference amid a warning from former deputy prime minister John Prescott that the party had "something lacking" at the top.

Ahead of what could prove a make-or-break annual conference for Labour, Mr Prescott accused the party's MPs of being "defeatist" and failing to take the fight to the Tories.

He also suggested that former prime minister Tony Blair would not have allowed the Gurkha row to get out of control in the way Gordon Brown did earlier this year.

As Labour delegates prepared to converge on Brighton for its annual conference, Mr Prescott issued a dire warning that the party was in danger of failing to land the "knock-out blow" it now needed.

With the Tories commanding a consistently double-digit lead in the polls, Labour chiefs are seeking to launch a concerted fightback at the gathering.

It will be the last annual conference before the next general election, which must be held within the next nine months.

Cabinet ministers tried to strike an upbeat note on the eve of the rally, which kicks off tomorrow, insisting there was all to play for in the months ahead.

But, in an interview with The Independent, Mr Prescott said: "There is no direction in campaigning - we are drifting.

"You ask yourself, why did we get in the Gurkhas situation? That would never have happened before," he said.

"So there's a feeling in the party that, somehow, we're not getting a grip on it. There is something lacking."

In remarkably outspoken criticism of Ms Harman, his successor as Labour's deputy leader, Mr Prescott said she should be "going out and campaigning".