Half of Brighton may have shut down but in the island site dubbed Tonytown, the Labour conference is well and truly open.

Hotel bars are brimming with delegates downing £3.20 lagers and getting worked up over emergency motions. But some have seen it too many times before. Lefty singer Billy Bragg was spotted lugging his guitar into The Grand. Asked whether he was enjoying himself he huffed: "I have to go to work".

John Prescott dodged Albion supporters to make an appearance on the Brighton seafront. As thousands of fans prepared for last night's march in support of a stadium at Falmer, the Deputy Prime Minister ducked questions over the long-running inquiry. When pressed by The Argus for a message for Albion supporters, he was unusually tight-lipped. He said: "I'm the planning minister on that - I can't give you a comment."

Tickets for last night's Alastair Campbell show at The Dome were selling so badly that delegates were offered two-for-one deals to save the former spin king from the humiliation of talking to rows of empty seats. Hard times indeed for the man once described as "the second most powerful person in Britain".

Labour strategists are worried their plans for an easy conference might be blown off course by an emergency debate on Iraq, thrust upon them by rebellious delegates. One pointed out it might be good to "lance the boil" of an issue that continues to divide the party. But more popular was the view of the frustrated party hack who gasped: "Why can't they just get over it? What are we supposed to do - reinstall Saddam?"

Brighton and Hove councillor Simon Burgess seems to be going to extreme lengths to ensure his political legacy survives him. His two children, eight-year-old Ruby, and five-year-old Ben, were chosen to welcome Tony Blair to Brighton with a bouquet of flowers at the Metropole Hotel. Coun Burgess said: "Ruby has been lucky enough to meet Tony before but she thought it was brilliant to meet him again. Ben was a bit bewildered so he was hanging onto his sister - she doesn't get shy." Could this fearless networking signal the start of a Burgess Dynasty?

As it turned out, not even flowers were enough to comfort the Prime Minister. Tony Blair told The Argus he couldn't relax until his keynote address to delegates was behind him. He said: "I never enjoy conferences until my speech is over." And, just in case we felt responsible, added: "But I love Brighton."

Stressed-out delegates are queueing up to try out the latest antidote to PCF (party conference fatigue). The Aqua Massager is a full-length capsule into which volunteers insert themselves before being pummelled with jets of water. The handful of units in the exhibition room have found plenty of takers. "It feels even better than a Gordon Brown speech," sighed one dreamy delegate.