Day 260 - 11 Jun 96 - Page 59
1
2 MS. STEEL: I will leave it.
3
4 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have to say, I have one particular friend
5 who is serving a very long time in a secure hospital.
6 I hate to think because I consider him a friend, it had
7 anything to do with my character. It is just not relevant
8 unless it is brought in.
9
10 MS. STEEL: It was not a friend, is what I would have put to
11 the witness, anyway.
12
13 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It would not be any evidence against you even
14 if it was. There we are. Let us just brush it on one
15 side, unless and until it is positively brought into the
16 arena by Mr. Rampton, which seems highly unlikely.
17
18 MS. STEEL: If we move on to the part below, it says:
19
20 "Most of the subsequent meeting was taken up discussing yet
21 again the approaching Greenpeace fair. At one point
22 someone referred to it as the anti-McDonald's fair but were
23 corrected by Paul Gravett. This discussion as before was
24 stretched out by those present being unable to agree on
25 many aspects of the coming event."
26
27 Now, you have got two of who you considered to be, in the
28 previous week's notes -- well, actually not, but in your
29 statement about the previous week -- two of the lead
30 persons, i.e., myself and Mr. Gravett ---
31 A. Yes.
32
33 Q. -- being present at this meeting, and yet there is more of
34 the other regulars -- for example, John, Jonathan, and so
35 on. So, there were still problems with people making any
36 kind of decision at this meeting?
37 A. They were still arguing what is going on, about what is
38 going to happen at the fair, yes.
39
40 Q. Is it actually fair to say that it was not at all uncommon
41 at London Greenpeace meetings for extremely long
42 discussions not really getting anywhere, not everybody
43 participating but, certainly, not everyone agreeing and,
44 effectively, decisions being deferred until a later
45 meeting, basically, because no kind of agreement could be
46 come to?
47 A. It was not unusual for discussions to take place that
48 ended without any decisions being made, simply because they
49 ran out of steam.
50
51 Q. Or, for example, they were unable to agree on any
52 particular aspects?
53 A. Many aspects of the coming events, some people wanted
54 to do something; other people wanted to do something else;
55 and there was no agreement at that time.
56
57 Q. I do not know whether you would remember this, because it
58 may have been before your time, but would you remember that
59 I was actually opposed to the fair and I thought the group
60 ought to be placing more emphasis on pickets and things
