Day 288 - 28 Oct 96 - Page 13


     
     1
     2   MR. RAMPTON:   No, that is right, my Lord.
     3
     4   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  All the rest -----
     5
     6   MS. STEEL:   It is part of the context as well, anyway.
     7
     8   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It may be.  McDonald's do not complain of
     9        those words.
    10
    11   MS. STEEL:   I actually thought it was set out in the Statement
    12        of Claim.
    13
    14   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I think you will find it is not.  It may not
    15        matter one way or the other.
    16
    17   MS. STEEL:   Yes, sorry, if I say, it is putting forward the
    18        alternatives to the way things are run now, i.e. that we do
    19        not have to eat meat.
    20
    21   MR. RAMPTON:   Your Lordship is right.  It is not part of it.
    22
    23   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No.  (Pause) I am not surprised it is not
    24        complained of.  It is not defamatory; even if it was it
    25        would be palpably fair comment.
    26
    27   MS. STEEL:   Right.  If I say that Dr. Gregory in his statement
    28        on page 3 actually gives updated figures, which is that 730
    29        million animals are killed for food in Britain every year.
    30        That was dated 1993, I think.
    31
    32   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Yes.
    33
    34   MS. STEEL:   Right.  Those are basically the facts that are set
    35        out in the leaflet, and we say that they have been proved
    36        by the evidence given in court, and the sting of those
    37        leaflets - sorry, the sting of the words in this section of
    38        the leaflet is that animals are suffering and that
    39        McDonald's are responsible for it.  That is the defamatory
    40        meaning, obviously relating to the animals reared for
    41        McDonald's products.
    42
    43        If I just make a point about the sting, which is that on
    44        day 78, page 63, Mr. Walker from Mckey Food Services
    45        admitted at line 53 that as a result of the meat industry
    46        the suffering of animals was inevitable.  Obviously,
    47        Mr. Walker is overall responsible for the production of
    48        McDonald's burgers, of all the beef and pork products.
    49
    50   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Yes. 
    51 
    52   MS. STEEL:   So we would say that by the admission of the 
    53        Plaintiffs' own supplier of pork and beef-----
    54
    55   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Quite frankly, I would not-----
    56
    57   MS. STEEL:   The sting of the leaflet has been proved.
    58
    59   MR JUSTICE BELL:   I do not think that can be an admission for
    60        McDonald's.  But it probably does not matter, you say that

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