An attempt will be made to rush through a new law on parliamentary privilege today (Tuesday).

The highly unusual move of first seeking leave to introduce a Bill, then go through all the stages of House of Keys scrutiny - which would normally require four different sittings - and then do the same in the Legislative Council suggests that there may be either a specific situation looming, for which they need to be prepared, or there is a serious loophole that has previously gone unnoticed.

Either way, it is remarkable to attempt put a piece of legislation - the Tynwald Proceedings (Amendment) Bill - through both branches of Tynwald on the same day.

The word coming from the corridors of Tynwald is that, while it is highly unusual, the new law simply reaffirms what is current practice. That does not really explain the rush.

That it is being done the week before Christmas will do little to assuage conspiracy theories and it will be interesting to see what Chris Robertshaw, when he attempts the move in his role as deputy speaker.

On the Bill itself, the explanatory note says: ’The law on parliamentary privilege has not been extensively tested on the Isle of Man and the purpose of this Bill is simple: it is to place on a statutory basis the rights of Tynwald, on an identical footing to all other parliaments in the Commonwealth.’

Without protecting parliamentary privilege, it is stated, Tynwald would not be able to carry out its duties.

Witnesses to select committees could not be guaranteed confidentiality, for instance.

Whether that is enough to convince MHKs and MLCs of the need to rush this through, rather than allow for the usual level of considered scrutiny, we shall see.

Also on the agenda, the Sexual Offences and Obscene Publications Bill returns for further consideration of its clauses. This will include new clauses that will aim to ban ’conversion therapy’ - as previously signalled by Department of Home Affairs member Clare Barber (Douglas East) - plus provisions covering the possession of extreme pornography.

The Domestic Abuse Bill also returns to the clauses stage.

At a previous sitting, rules to give the courts power to prevent an alleged attacker from cross-examining their victim were backed, but that appears to have created the need for more specific detail, so further amendments to the Bill are set to be made.

Concern has been expressed previously, with the above pieces of legislation, about government almost drafting laws on the floor of the House of Keys, rather than having it oven-ready, to coin a phrase.

That said, the concern was raised by Mr Robertshaw and given he is attempting to have a first reading, second reading, clauses stage and third reading of a new piece of legislation, all in one day, perhaps it’s not such an issue after all.

There is one other bauble on the legislative tree, the Regulation of Care (Amendment) Bill is at the clauses stage.

The final Keys question time of 2019 is relatively short. Chief Minister Howard Quayle will be asked to give a reaction to Boris Johnson’s election victory in the UK.

Good luck finding a Classics reference to sum that up.

Late benefits payments will also be raised and Education Minister Graham Cregeen, who may or may not be on the Christmas card list of various teaching unions, will be asked to make a statement on a meeting of said unions - about pay - in November.

Totally unrelated, Daphne Caine (Garff) has a written question asking for a break down of complaints made against each government minister in the current administration.

In the Legislative Council, they are due to continue their consideration of the Children and Young Persons (Amendment) Bill, the Limitation Bill and Registration of Business Names (Amendment) Bill, as well as being poised to race through the Tynwald Proceedings (Amendment) Bill.

Then it’s mince pies all round. Probably.