Local MEP Robert Sturdy is guest speaker at the Bar Hill branch AGM this Saturday, 2 March.

He has represented East Anglia since June 1994 and is currently the Conservative member responsible for Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. His regular Strasbourg reports show a keen eye for the absurd as well as factual reporting.

He built up a substantial family farming business, mainly in arable crops and he finds this practical experience invaluable in policy discussion in Parliament.

As being an MEP involves so much travelling from home to Brussels, when he has time off he enjoys nothing more than helping out around the farm.  His passion for agriculture started young when he became County Chairman of the Young Farmers.

Active in the NFU, Robert held a number of appointments and chairmanships including Chairman of the Regional Livestock Committee and Sugarbeet, Potatoes and Cereals Committee and was involved in the WTO Uruguay round negotiations. It was this that led to his growing interest in international trade and the important role that agriculture plays within it.

Robert takes a keen interest in animal welfare and the environment and is a member of the RSPB and Vice-President of the Cambridgeshire Beekeepers Association. Robert is treasurer of the Land Use and Food Policy Intergroup and Chairman of the Sustainable Hunting Intergroup.

Robert got his first taste of politics at school, winning the public speaking trophy. Since then he has been a councillor and was a constituency chairman from 1990-93.

Saturday's event, at Dry Drayton Village Hall, commences at 12.00 for 12.30 – tickets, £12.50 each, including lunch, are available from Iris Lay on 01954 205 265.

Full details on our Events page.