Day 186 - 10 Nov 95 - Page 53
1 "McDeadly" must be referring to something else. If that
2 be right -- it may be that it refers to both, of course,
3 which is perfectly possible -----
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is what occurred to me.
6
7 MR. RAMPTON: Yes, it is perfectly reasonable, it may well do,
8 but for this purpose I am not concerned with that. If it
9 is to be reasonably taken as referring to the passage about
10 food which starts immediately underneath it, as it
11 happens: "What's so unhealthy about McDonald's food?" and
12 comes after "McCancer" and "McDisease", then it and the
13 cartoon (and I will say a word about the general nature of
14 the cartoons, a brief word in a moment, if I may) are, we
15 would suggest, read with the text (and I will come to an
16 earlier bit of the text in a moment) indicative of the
17 degree of risk which consumption of food carries with it,
18 creates in the person who eats it?
19
20 That may be critically important. It is, I apprehend, why
21 your Lordship has used, for example, the words "a very real
22 risk". I attach that phrase to the eating of the food
23 simpliciter. I have said already (and I will say it again
24 just for the last time), I do not really mind whether one
25 gets there as a consequence of direct consumption or via
26 diet. The fact is one is being told in this leaflet by
27 reference to the text, the headlines and the cartoon that
28 the risk of getting these diseases if you eat the food is,
29 at the very least, very real, serious or whatever word one
30 likes to use.
31
32 May I revert, and I hope it will be the last time in the
33 case, in fact, since this is the final argument on this
34 topic, to the cigarettes. Mr. Morris held up a poster
35 which, I think, said "Smoking causes heart disease" --
36 I have not got it because he held it up and I did not see
37 it properly -- (handed) thank you very much -- "Smoking
38 causes heart disease", and I think, as I recollect, that
39 Ms. Steel made the same point about the sub-heading,
40 "What's so unhealthy about McDonald's food", that it did
41 not say anything much more than this: "Smoking causes heart
42 disease", or, as I have on my autobiographical packet at
43 the moment, "Tobacco seriously damages health".
44
45 MS. STEEL: I do not think that is quite what I said.
46
47 MR. RAMPTON: Whether it is what was said or not, my Lord, that
48 I would suggest is very apt as an interpretation of what
49 this leaflet is saying. Substitute "smoking" or "tobacco"
50 with "McDonald's food" and one has it precisely. Then one
51 has it faithfully reflected, if your Lordship chooses to go
52 that way, either through our meaning F or, if your Lordship
53 prefers, through my edited version of your Lordship's
54 meaning. Eating it carries a very real risk from which you
55 will get these diseases.
56
57 My Lord, I add by way of context, which I did not draw
58 particular attention to when I opened this argument -----
59
60 MR. MORRIS: Is it appropriate to say that Mr. Rampton is not
