Ah yes, it's the same

one that got me elected

MPs - ever mindful of being accused of "sleaze" - often make declarations of interest before they stand up to speak in Westminster debate.

In most cases these statements are incredibly tedious. I have, for example, lost count of the times I have heard a Tory declare the ownership of shares in Railtrack before launching a tirade on former Transport Secretary Stephen Byers' decision to dump the company into administration.

However, this week Dr Richard Taylor broke the mould. He managed to inject some humour into the proceedings.

The Commons' only independent MP made his declaration prior to joining a discussion about the role of the private sector in the NHS.

This is a topic familiar to all Kidderminster Hospital campaigners, as they blame the Private Finance Initiative for the downgrading of its accident and emergency department.

And this, of course, was the decision which led to Dr Taylor being elected in the first place.

So he told MPs: "I have to declare a paradoxical interest here, because were it not for the PFI, I do not think that I would have achieved this unique way of supplementing my pension.

"But although I am grateful to the PFI for that, I admit that I still oppose it."

Meanwhile, Dr Taylor has demonstrated he is mindful of not falling into the Martin Bell trap.

Mr Bell was elected to the Commons as an independent MP in 1997 after defeating Neil Hamilton on an "anti-sleaze" ticket.

He relished Westminster life and did a valuable job on the Commons' standards watchdog.

But he was unable to stand for re-election in Tatton as he had declared before his victory that he would serve only one term.

Mr Bell - who bequeathed his secretary to Dr Taylor - advised him against saying too soon whether he would seek re-election.

And he has clearly taken it to heart. Questioned by The Big Issue magazine, he said only: "There is a frustration in knowing what is right and battling against the system to achieve it.

"We will just have to wait and see what happens in the next 12 months."