Tynwald will today find out what kind of state the Isle of Man is in.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle will give his ’state of the nation address’ - a rather grandiose title for something that could equally go under the heading of ’update’.

It’s a tricky one for Mr Quayle, of course, because he has spent a lot of the past three years telling us that we’re at the mercy of Brexit. We still are at the mercy of Brexit and we still don’t know quite what that entails.

But no doubt Mr Q (pictured right) will have some good things to tell us about everything else. If we’re lucky, his inner Classicist will encourage him to throw in a quote or two from a fictional character/Brazilian footballer.

As it is in the first proper sitting of Tynwald since the recess - last week was a Brexit bonus - there are plenty of statements to keep us interested.

Policy and Reform Minister Chris Thomas will give us a statement on the BBC.

No delusions of grandeur from Mr T; it’s under the simple header, of ’The BBC’. It’s more likely to be about licence fees and regional coverage than the corporation’s cack-handed handling of the complaint about a presenter having the temerity to point out that racist remarks made by the President of the USA were in fact, racist.

There’s due to be a statement on the licensing and cultivation of medicinal cannabis, from Health Minister David Ashford, who will also update us on the health and care transformation programme.

And with apologies to the above Ministers, we will then get onto some of the juicy stuff.

Firstly, a report from the Treasury about the preferred method of refinancing the Steam Packet’s £76m government loan to ’raise external debt by way of a private placement’.

The report also mentions that the government will be required to guarantee any loans required to buy new vessels. A bargain for all concerned, no doubt.

Moving swiftly past rates reform - as most of the public seemed to, much to Mr Thomas’ consternation, when it turned out that a couple of tweets may not be as effective as notice board posters when it comes to letting people know about meetings - we will find ourselves at the proposals for Manx Radio.

The station wants an increase of its subvention, which as usual has grabbed the headlines, but the proposed new ownership model in the form of a trust is also an interesting one.

Whatever the outcome, the debate will involve Tynwald members expressing concern about how much money the station receives, while keeping a close eye how much airtime they get; the non-Manx Radio branches of the Manx media expressing annoyance at the government funding; the Manx Radio branch of the media pointing out its public service obligation; and reporters in Tynwald smiling awkwardly at one another and hoping that neither side takes any the ensuing coverage personally.

As luck would have it, there’s also a motion tabled at the end of the Tynwald agenda, with former BBC reporter Kerry Sharpe MLC seeking a select committee to come up with a ’public service media strategy’.

Given the media and politicians are the two groups that most love talking about themselves, there will be plenty said.

But if that isn’t navel-gazing for you, there is a motion that would see Tynwald state that it feels the number of elected MLCs should be reduced from eight to six.

Just a reminder, that an ’elected MLC’ is not actually elected but appointed, after charming a sufficient number of MHKs and convincing them they will do as they’re told/offer the kind of scrutiny that a House of Keys filled with government department members does not necessarily achieve.

All this and we have yet to mention the retail strategy for the Post Office.

The future of sub-post offices has been under a cloud for some time and, while the Post Office management has had what can only be termed as a ’bit of a doing’ on this issue, there has been a few inklings that the government itself has not been doing the greatest job in terms of supporting it.

There appears to have been a reluctance to consider the shocking idea that there is more to the post office network than making a profit, for instance.

Post Office

On the upside, as part of a move towards a ’demand-driven’ service, the concept of pop-up post offices has been mooted. This would give us the brilliant acronym POPOS. Whether that will be of any comfort to pensioners and isolated individuals who may lose a vital fixed link with the rest of the world, is another matter.

A select committee report which calls on Tynwald to treasure the ’national asset’ of its retail network is then due to be discussed.

Can members support both these agenda items and maintain credibility? Or will it be one versus the other?

Do we have time to mention government’s attempt to water down recommendations on accommodation for vulnerable young people, a report about who should be in charge of means testing, a structural review of civil services terms and conditions above executive officer level, or the return for a combined vote of a motion that called on Chris Thomas to report by this month on changes to projections of housing requirements? Looks like we do.

Not forgetting the question paper.

It includes such items as the promenade, Brexit, TT visitor numbers methodology, housing and the latest hot topic, the future of the folk gallery in the Manx Museum.

As usual, Manx Radio will broadcast proceedings. If you all tune in, it will certainly help with the argument over funding.