Tom Watson tries to lessen activists' grip on Labour

Tom Watson's proposals to ditch the leadership election rules that facilitated Jeremy Corbyn becoming leader would not apply to Corbyn himself.

They would kick in only after Corbyn had made the decision to resign - unlike the current situation where Corbyn was challenged as incumbent leader (so if Corbyn were challenged yet again, current rules would apply).

And to reassure Corbyn and the Corbynistas, the party's deputy leader is also asking Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) to clarify that if a serving leader were challenged again to a fresh contest, he or she would automatically be on the ballot paper.

So, as Watson told me, his leadership-election reform proposals are not yet another attempt to unseat Corbyn, but a longer term plan to try to unify the warring parts of the party.

What he wants is a modified version of the electoral college that Ed Miliband ditched.

Party members would have at least a third of the votes.

Trade unions would have at least a third - although all payers of the political levy would be enfranchised, rather than the current system which enfranchised just the more politically committed.

And MPs would receive between 10% and a third of the votes (Watson recognises that MPs current war against Corbyn means the NEC will be minded to give them the bare minimum representation in any new electoral college).

So this is one more big constitutional reform proposal to be put to today's NEC - along with proposals to change how the shadow cabinet is chosen, and the makeup of the NEC.

Everything happening at the NEC today is both about tedious institutional process and is absolutely fundamental to what kind of party Labour will become - whether the current takeover of the party by grassroots activists will be hard-wired, entrenched, permanent.

And because this is so huge for Labour, the chances of any of this being settled today at just one meeting don't look brilliant.