Day 276 - 09 Jul 96 - Page 32


     
     1        A.  If I just make a general point as well that, as far as
     2        I can see, everybody who has ever talked about
     3        anti-McDonald's literature, who has ever distributed it or
     4        anything like that, has always believed in it and I have
     5        never ever heard anybody say that they thought it was
     6        untrue.  If they had, then you know, I would have said
     7        something like, "Well, why do you think that?", and if they
     8        had a good reason I would say, "Well, we should not
     9        distribute it then".  Because I am not interested in
    10        putting out false information.
    11
    12             In fact, we have actually had people, since the writs
    13        were served, people writing in asking about McDonald's
    14        giving money to the IRA, and this is something that crops
    15        up.  In fact, I have heard police offers saying about money
    16        being given to the IRA by McDonald's.  And whenever anybody
    17        has asked me about it, because of what I have read through
    18        when we were doing research for the purposes of this case,
    19        for getting into court, I knew that that was not true and I
    20        have always said to them, "No, it is not true", it was
    21        about video retirement accounts, or something like that,
    22        and there was some mistake over it.  And if I had been the
    23        sort of person who was interested in putting out false
    24        information to damage McDonald's, then I would have just
    25        said to them, "You get on and distribute that false
    26        information".  Because there were people who, particularly
    27        the police officer that mentioned it to me on a
    28        demonstration, who were using that as a reason why they did
    29        not go to McDonald's, why they disliked McDonald's.
    30
    31   Q.   Is there anything more you want to say specifically about
    32        that document?
    33        A.  Not about the press release.  There are some other ones
    34        that I want to come on to.
    35
    36   Q.   Yes, certainly.  But for the time being anyway you have
    37        finished with that press release?
    38        A.  Yes.
    39
    40   Q.   Well, we will resume at 10 past 2.  Before we do
    41        Mr. Morris, if Miss Steel finishes her evidence in chief
    42        this afternoon, I am pretty sure you know, but you
    43        appreciate that I then give you the opportunity to ask
    44        questions before Mr. Rampton?
    45
    46   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.
    47
    48                       (Luncheon adjournment)
    49
    50   MS. STEEL:  Yes, if I go on to the second document.  Actually,
    51        if I just say about the first document that we have just
    52        been going through that is in tab 1, we got this copy from
    53        a journalist at The Guardian, I cannot remember who it was,
    54        but the document that appears in tab 2, the leaflet which
    55        was distributed throughout McDonald's stores, I initially
    56        became aware of this leaflet when I was told by somebody
    57        who had been giving informal legal assistance to us that
    58        they had seen it and got a copy of it in a store, in a
    59        McDonald's store in south London.  I think it was Brixton,
    60        but I am not sure.  It was definitely south London anyway,

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