Sketch By Ollie Stone-Lee BBC News, TUC conference in Brighton

Bob Crow led a small demonstration against Mr Blair

Tony Blair said he would be relieved to face the TUC for a final time - and it's not hard to see why.

Brighton has staged many a seaside panto but this time the boos and hisses were not for Captain Hook but for the man who once seemed a Peter Pan prime minister.

Bob Crow and his fellow Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union delegates, who are no longer affiliated to the Labour Party, were primed from the start with their banners.

"Go now" and "public services, not profit profits" screamed their slogans as Mr Blair addressed the TUC conference.

War clash

This time there was no call for the heavies to escort the hecklers out of the hall - Mr Crow and his crew of about 20 walked out by themselves.

A handful of protesting delegates remained to brandish posters a few rows back from Mr Blair's podium.

And the prime minister's speech was punctuated with the odd cry of "bring the troops home" and "what about Israel" as Mr Blair talked of opposing terrorism everywhere.

There were shouts of "rubbish" too when Mr Blair urged delegates to be proud of what British soldiers were doing in Iraq.

He immediately turned on his critics, urging them to "just listen for once".

"I simply say to people who make the protest, you are perfectly entitled to do it but realise that those hostile to a Labour government - you are doing precisely what they want. Not very sensible," he said.

Tough questioning

Mr Blair seemed to relish his offensive, joking: "I think we're warming up now."

The protests were confined to a small minority of the hall, with the vast majority giving him polite applause, but no standing ovation.

Dave Prentis said Mr Blair was not a good communicator at the TUC

Delegate after delegate aired their deep concern about the government's direction in the question and answer session which followed Mr Blair's speech.

There was no outright hostility but clear frustration and anger about a range of issues: privatisation of public services, job losses in manufacturing, civil service job cuts and rights for agency workers.

One union leader summed up the mood by noting that the questions won applause - not Mr Blair's answers.

Opposition warning

But, as he has done time and again before, Mr Blair finished on a flourish, urging delegates to realise that it was better to be addressed by a Labour prime minister than a leader of the opposition who could not make a difference.

It won politely enthusiastic applause as Mr Blair gave his final wave to the unions and strode off the stage, knowing there was no euphoria to lap up.

Derek Simpson was glad there was no slanging match

Unison leader Dave Prentis said it was the end of an era which had seen Mr Blair take Labour to three election wins.

"He's never been comfortable before a trade union audience and it became very apparent today," said Mr Prentis.

"Some of his responses were very disappointing. Tony is a great communicator but I didn't feel that today, particularly when answering questions on the health service."

But Joe Elba, from the Transport and General Workers' Union, said: "He's good. He's brave enough to take questions, brave enough to be confronting a conference of this magnitude."

'Losing authority'

Ken Thomas, a former member of the TUC general council, said the question and answer session had been a "brilliant" way of deflecting the criticisms.

Mr Thomas said he had not been a Blair supporter but praised him as a "politician to his fingertips".

"Whatever Gordon Brown does, he's never going to be as good as Blair in dealing with a situation like this," he added.

Mark Serwotka, leader of the Public and Commercial Services union, said Mr Blair's time had come and gone.

"I think he was nervous and our reading of his performance is that he's somebody whose authority is ebbing away by the minute," said the union leader.

Amicus chief Derek Simpson, another leader who wants Mr Blair gone quickly, told BBC News he thought the prime minister had focused on international affairs to avoid more contentious domestic issues.

But he described the TUC's reception for the prime minister as "polite to warm".

"While it wasn't the greatest speech in the world, it would have been sad if it had degenerated into a slanging match," said Mr Simpson.

It seems the sighs of relief are emanating from both sides of the union/Downing Street divide.