Children are the opium of the masses

For many people, becoming a parent is the most important task in life. For one MP, however, children are simply the ‘opium of the masses’.

Conservative backbencher Rory Stewart has hit out at people who think of their offspring as their ‘purpose’ in life – despite admitting he would like to become a father himself.

He said: ‘If we say the purpose of life is our children, that’s neither a purpose nor a meaning. But I’m sure I will be as besotted as everybody else when I have them.’

Conservative MP Rory Stewart says people should not let their lives be driven or defined by having children

Playing on revolutionary Karl Marx’s infamous statement that ‘religion is the opium of the masses’, Mr Stewart described children as the new ‘opium’.

His comments come just five months after he criticised society for worshipping children as they once worshipped God. On that occasion he also compared children to ‘opium’, but focused his attack on society’s tendency to prioritise the needs of young people over the elderly.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2588500/Children-opium-masses-says-MP-Backbencher-hits-think-offspring-purpose-life-admits-wants-father-himself.html

The MP is making a reputation for himself for his tasteless remarks:

Diplomat's son Rory Stewart, Eton-educated like David Cameron, caused further anger by making a tasteless "joke" about a tractor tragedy.

Mr Stewart, 37, MP for Penrith and the Border in Cumbria, said: "Some areas around here are pretty primitive, people holding up their trousers with bits of twine and that sort of thing."

The rising Tory star went on: "I have a constituency with 52,000 people and a million sheep. I was in one village where a local kid was run over by a tractor. They took him to Carlisle but they couldn't be bothered to wait at the hospital. So they put him in a darkened room for two weeks, then said he was fine. But I'm not so sure he was." Derek Daley, 76, whose son Noel died after his motorbike collided with a tractor, said: "I take great umbrage at what Mr Stewart has said. It is extremely distasteful."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/new-tory-mp-rory-stewart-237543