Day 259 - 10 Jun 96 - Page 26
1
2 Q. You were in charge of this case?
3 A. Yes.
4
5 Q. Effectively, you were threatening to sue the BBC over
6 statements about rainforests and their destruction (the
7 programme being about Brazil) and yet you had information
8 that, in fact, McDonald's was getting beef from Brazil, but
9 you were keeping that information from the BBC. Why was
10 that?
11 A. I was not keeping any information from the BBC.
12
13 Q. Why was your company keeping information from the BBC at
14 the same time as threatening -----
15 A. What makes you say that it was?
16
17 Q. There was no mention about this purchase of Brazilian beef
18 for UK use in the final letter to the BBC, was there?
19 A. The final letter just simply set out the terms of our
20 settlement with them and the wording of the apology they
21 had undertaken to give. I do not see where this comes into
22 it. As I understand it, this Vestey beef comes thousands
23 of miles or hundreds of miles from the rainforest area.
24
25 Q. You were giving a misleading impression to the BBC?
26 A. I was not giving them a misleading impression about
27 anything.
28
29 Q. Is that not the case with -- I cannot say all, because I do
30 not know about all the actions you take -- but most or all
31 of the actions you take, that you threaten people with
32 legal action without giving them the full information; you
33 make misleading statements; and, basically, just try and
34 intimidate them into silence?
35 A. Right. I have never made a misleading statement
36 knowingly to anybody, and I have never intimidated
37 anybody. If I feel that an organisation or a newspaper or
38 a television programme has said something about McDonald's
39 which is untrue, I point it out to them and I ask them to
40 withdraw it.
41
42 Q. Is it not the case that your company, or solicitors on its
43 behalf, have sent several hundred solicitors' letters
44 threatening legal action against people who have criticised
45 the Company?
46 A. Not several hundreds, my Lord. I doubt whether it
47 comes to more than a dozen. I cannot remember the exact
48 number.
49
50 Q. We have got more than a dozen in the bundles.
51 A. We write to people and say, "This is untrue."
52
53 Q. Well, I put it to you that several hundred letters were
54 sent to various organisations and individuals, telling them
55 to stop making the criticisms that they were making of the
56 Company, whether or not -- obviously, there is a dispute
57 about whether or not they are true; you would agree with
58 that?
59 A. No.
60
