Day 002 - 29 Jun 94 - Page 52
1 secretary and activist in the Post Office.
2 I take it very personally when I am called a liar on paper
in national leaflets and press statements. It is now for
3 McDonald's Corporation to prove that I have lied about
their company. I do not like bullies, I do not like
4 exploitation and I do not like propaganda in order to make
profits. I have been taught all my life to question
5 things. I am going to carry on doing that throughout my
whole life. The more sophisticated the deceit or
6 propaganda, the more concerned I am to question and
challenge it.
7
My final points are that this trial should never have been
8 brought, this case should never have been brought. It
comes down to censorship and might versus right: The might
9 of McDonald's Corporation against the right of freedom of
speech. This trial is going to be extremely difficult for
10 the two defendants in every way; that we are seeking the
protection of the court as members of public. We are
11 facing a well-paid, well-versed and rehearsed team with
all the resources and backing they could possibly need.
12 We are unpaid, unrehearsed, inexperienced, we have little
time to prepare, extremely nervous and probably what might
13 happen -- it is possible -- is that Mr. Rampton might wipe
the floor with us -- it is possible -- on certain points
14 or on certain witnesses, but to what great purpose? To
what great satisfaction can he possibly get or McDonald's
15 Corporation get from that?
16 We believe that a fair trial is something that will have
to be worked on rather than automatically achievable in
17 this case. This could be an historic case.
18 We have had really no time to sort through the documents.
We have not got the space in our respective houses to lay
19 them out properly. We have had no time to talk to our
witnesses, to get them to do supplementary statements, to
20 get the documents to them that are relevant. We will not
be able to pay them to come in to sit in with the
21 witnesses they are meant to be countering, so they can
come up with cross-examination points for us, or bear it
22 in mind when they give evidence.
23 We still do not know the plaintiffs' case about our
counterclaim. The cross-examination will start without us
24 knowing what the case against us is. We have had no
practice on how to file and recall answers to questions
25 given by witnesses which are going to be crucial.
Mr. Rampton, no doubt, is going to use every trick in the
26 book (and that is no criticism of him; he is doing his
job) -----
27
MR. RAMPTON: Except they are not tricks, if you please.
28
MR. MORRIS: Mr. Rampton is an entirely principled barrister
29 who never uses any legal tricks. So to bamboozle the
court and to win by any way they can, the question will
30 be: What is it all for? What is all this energy and
effort for? Is it to establish the truth or is it to
