I was offered a record deal at 21 but mum told me to be a doc instead
MP ditched pop for childhood dream Car park suicides make resort ‘Beachy Head of North’
BLACKPOOL’S MP has dubbed the seaside resort “the Beachy Head of the North” after a spate of suicides off multi-storey car parks.
Tory Paul Maynard says there are three overlooking the town’s main station and people go there to jump
A LABOUR Party rising star was set to be a very different kind of hit – until her mother stepped in.
Shadow mental health minister Rosena Allin-Khan was offered a record deal at 21.
But her mum, who had been a pop star in her native Poland, urged her to follow a childhood dream and become a doctor.
MP Rosena, now 45, revealed: “I had opportunities to do things in a very big way in music and showbiz. People were saying ‘don’t you know how lucky you are?’
“The musicians union provided me with a lawyer. I was being offered an opportunity people could only dream of.”
DESPERATE
But her mother Maria – who had met her Pakistani-born dad while touring in London – didn’t want her girl to make the wrong move .
“My mum was really helpful,” said Rosena. “She said, ‘I know you spent your whole life desperate to be a doctor, to help people. If you were a doctor you can still sing, but if you become a singer, you can’t dabble in being a doctor.’ She’s wicked.
“I had to choose between a record contract and going to medical school. I turned them down.”
Mum-of-two Rosena told James O’Brien’s Full Disclosure podcast that she wanted to be a doctor from wishing to cure a blind off. Now he wants tougher safety rules in all high-rise car parks.
He said: “We must make the top decks less compelling to those who want to take the ultimate step. Barriers must be higher, and closing in top decks completely should be
Rosena was offered contract relative when she was three. She went on to work in A&E wards before becoming a councillor in Tooting, South West London, where she’s now MP, and still doing shifts as a doctor at a local hospital.
Rosena finished runner-up in the party’s deputy leader contest earlier this year, delighting voters at a Brighton hustings by belting out Cher’s Turn Back Time.
And she still manages to score some big hits in another way – the ex-Shadow Sports Minister took up boxing while at university and is a member and team doctor at a local club. considered.” Blackpool’s suicide rate at 13.7 for every 100,000 people is the highest in the North West and more than two points above the national average.
Since 2010 building regulations insist new builds include suicide prevention measures but that does not apply to existing ones.
Around 50 people have killed themselves there over three years.
Housing minister Chris Pincher said there were no plans to tighten the rules on car park barriers.