Day 101 - 10 Mar 95 - Page 55
1 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, we have had this accusation before. We
2 have had a misquotation by Ms. Steel on two occasions of
3 what I said in opening this case. It might be useful if I
4 just reminded the Defendants, through your Lordship, of
5 what I actually said in opening this case. It is on page
6 44 of the opening, which is Tuesday, 28th June; so-called
7 day one. I said this:
8
9 "McDonald's do not dispute the right of anyone at all, if
10 that should be his honest view, to say in strong terms if
11 he wishes that he disapproves of keeping and killing
12 animals for human consumption. That is not what this case
13 is about. It is entirely a matter of opinion. What
14 McDonald's do object to, however, is gross misdescription
15 of the facts underlying the expression of such opinions.
16 Thus, in this case, while McDonald's unreservedly accept
17 that a person holding strong views on the matter might
18 honestly describe the slaughter of animals for food as
19 'Murder'", and your Lordship will notice that I did not
20 use the word "torture" ----
21
22 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I know, but he was not ----
23
24 MR. RAMPTON: I now say I did not, contrary to what Ms. Steel
25 has twice said, mention the word "torture" for the reasons
26 I have explained to your Lordship.
27
28 I now go on with the quotation: "McDonald's emphatically
29 do not accept that that person or those people are entitled
30 to colour their opinion and to try to excite support for it
31 by falsely asserting as a matter of fact that the animals
32 which McDonald's use", and I am now taking the words from
33 the pamphlet, "'Often struggle to escape from the killing
34 line and become frantic as they watch the animal in front
35 of them being slaughtered; frequently have their throats
36 cut whilst still fully conscious'. None of those factual
37 assertions has any basis in fact so far as the animals used
38 by McDonald's are concerned".
39
40 Then I went on: "Nor is it true that the conditions in
41 which McDonald's animals" -- that is shorthand for the
42 animals used by McDonald's -- "are reared are in any sense
43 inhumane or cruel."
44
45 MS. STEEL: That is a matter of opinion.
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What I do not think is useful is if one ends
48 up at the end of the day just arguing with the witness, if
49 that is what it amounts to. You have your point of view.
50 The witness' point of view may differ. What you really
51 want to do is try to elicit from him matters of fact which
52 enable you to press your point of view at the end of the
53 day.
54
55 MS. STEEL: We do have our point of view, and it is just a shame
56 that the Plaintiffs have decided to try to stifle it by
57 bringing this case.
58
59 MR. JUSTICE BELL: On what I have witnessed in this court, that
60 is not so. But go on with your questions as to matters of
