Mr Corbyn shuffled out and the Tories erupted. ‘Byyyyyeeee!’ they hooted, waving merrily

Well, that was fun. Yesterday evening, MPS voted on the Queen’s Speech – knowing that they were almost certainly wasting their time. Minutes earlier, news had broken that Boris Johnson wanted a December general election. And if Mr Johnson gets his way, then straight after that December general election, there will be another Queen’s Speech. So the Queen’s Speech which MPS were voting on last night will have counted for precisely nothing at all.

Mere moments after the result of that vote (which I won’t waste your time by reporting), Jacob Rees-mogg confirmed that it was true. On Monday afternoon, announced the Leader of the House, the Commons would hold a vote on whether to have a snap election. (These days, thanks to the Fixed-term Parliament Act of 2011, a prime minister can’t just unilaterally call an election – he needs two-thirds of MPS to agree with him.)

Tories blared their support. On the benches opposite, however, consternation reigned. Did they want an election? Didn’t they? Was this an opportunity, or a trap? What was going on?

Labour’s Valerie Vaz, shadow leader of the House, did her best to sound as though she knew what her party’s position was. “I want to make it clear,” she wailed, above a din of Tory derision. “The Labour party will back an election, once a no-deal Brexit is ruled out … and if the [Brexit] extension allows.” In the meantime, she protested, what about the debate on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill? Was that going to start up again, or not? Tories honked and jeered. Mr Rees-mogg permitted himself a brief smile.

“What are the words of that hymn?” he drawled. “‘Even eternity is too short to extol Thee.’ It seems to me that eternity is too short for the Opposition! They don’t want Brexit, and however much time we give them, they will come up with some foolish objection!” The man was in his element. He was practically purring. Purring like a cat whose manservant has just lifted the cloche to reveal a glittering mound of beluga caviar.

What everyone in the chamber wanted to know, of course, was this: what did Jeremy Corbyn think? Would he agree to hold an election? Or would he bottle it? Sadly, we didn’t find out. Because, as Mr Rees-mogg was speaking, Mr Corbyn got up from the Labour front bench, and started shuffling out of the chamber.

The Tories erupted. “Byyyyyeeee!” they hooted, waving at him merrily.

Then again, Mr Corbyn wasn’t the only one who seemed to have been thrown by the Prime Minister’s decision. The SNP and Lib Dems sounded wary, too. And if they, along with Labour, end up voting against a December election, it won’t be happening. Which, in the eyes of the public, will be either an insult or a relief, depending on what they value more: Brexit, or Christmas.