It is with a heavy heart that we turn our attention towards Tynwald.

Some acerbic wits might suggest - cruelly - that there is nothing new in this melancholy anticipation.

But the reason for such sadness upon this occasion is because today (Tuesday) is the final sitting of our parliament before the summer recess.

If you’re tuning in to listen live, the extraneous background noise you hear will most certainly not be party poppers being set off by jaded political correspondents. We’re frowned upon enough as it is, by some of them up there.

The matter likely to garner most interest will be the proposed new rates for the minimum wage and also the bid to remove most of the age differentials. If approved, the minimum wage for those aged over 18 would become £7.85 an hour.

Of the select committee reports to be considered by Tynwald members, the one looking at library provision, including the recommendation of a working party to carry out a detailed inquiry, stands out.

The agenda will actually be kicked off by Post Office chairman Julie Edge, who will have a statement on the five-year strategy for the future of the aforementioned Post Office.

In a neat piece of bookending, Tim Baker (Ayre and Michael) has tabled the final motion of proceedings, which calls upon Tynwald to recognise the value of the Post Office and the challenges it faces - and calls for its long-term future to be assured and the Council of Ministers to report back with its plans.

If Ms Edge is being smart, she may limit her statement to: ’Let’s see what happens with Tim’s idea.’ She probably won’t, but you never know.

Meanwhile, Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan will seek permission to spend some extra money on various projects. It’s nice that, even though he’s in charge of the cash, he still asks.

July is always a good time for telling us new ideas.

So it is that Tynwald members will be asked to run the rule over a new single use plastics reduction plan for the government, a new waste strategy and a new active travel strategy.

Ms Edge will be in action again with a motion calling for routine screening for diabetes, while there will be calls for select committees to investigate Brexit and Media Development Fund losses, both of which also feature in question time.

The question paper itself is a busy affair with plenty of topics, albeit not many of them are new.

Instead, we see several Tynwald members revisit favourite subjects.

Former children’s champion Daphne Caine is once more seeking data on attainment in individual primary schools, which will inevitably also lead to further arguments about the value of such data with such a small cohort to choose from, plus debate on the possibility that children could be identified from the release of such statistics.

Mrs Caine may be interested to read the views of one head teacher on page 13 of today’s Isle of Man Examiner.

Kate Beecroft (Douglas South) will revisit the Steam Packet deal and the Media Development Fund among her questions. But one query that we should all take a particular interest in concerns Brexit - a subject that several MHKs turn their attention to.

The former minister will put Chief Minister Howard Quayle on the spot about whether the UK Government has ’any legal duty’ with regards to the position of the Isle of Man resulting from Brexit.

There are also questions tabled about the possible legalisation of cannabis, support for farmers affected by the heatwave and data protection.

It all adds up to the possibility of a lengthy sitting.

We should not complain. We’ll miss all this excitement next month, when instead we have to make do with MHKs and MLCs reminding us that they are still very busy over the summer.