If you are looking for a sign that we will be trotting to the polling station a fortnight before Christmas, the bookmakers are suggesting the odds point to a 70% probability that we will.

But before we all rush to equip ourselves with snow shoes, skis and sledges, it’s worth remembering - not that we need a reminder - that Brexit has a funny way of confounding the pollsters and experts.

The unknown factors fall into the usual categories: will Labour back the snap poll or abstain and what kind of extension deal will the EU come up with.

Under the fixed-term Parliament Act, a variation to the fixed date must be endorsed by two thirds of MPs and if Labour was to abstain, Boris Johnson’s plan would fall.

There’s currently nothing to suggest party leader Jeremy Corbyn is thawing over the idea of a snap poll - largely because it doesn’t comply with Labour’s position that it wants a no-deal Brexit off the table before it would back an election.

The other unknown factor is that the EU itself may decide it will wait and see what happens when Parliament meets on Monday to debate the idea - a kind of ‘who blinks first’ situation.

Meanwhile, closer to home it seems that despite the fact that the deadline for leaving the EU by next Friday is now unlikely, road chiefs are to continue with their preparations for Operation Brock to be in place from next week.

The move to ensure that the M20 is “Brexit-ready” next week may well mystify motorists in the absence of any demonstrable need for it to be in place.

How is Brexit going to affect Kent? For all the latest news, views and analysis visit our dedicated page here.

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