Day 123 - 09 May 95 - Page 46
1
2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am going to take the five-minute break now,
3 come what may. Reflect on what I just said to you because
4 I think really all you are going to do is summarise your
5 argument again. It does not help me. You see, in order to
6 answer your questions, anyway, Mr. Beavers has to reach a
7 conclusion about what he thinks the leaflet means. No
8 disrespect to Mr. Beavers; it does not matter what Mr.
9 Beavers thinks it means. It does not help me to reach a
10 conclusion about it; nor does it help me whether he thinks
11 it is inaccurate or not to reach a conclusion about whether
12 it is inaccurate or not.
13
14 MR. MORRIS: I am just trying to establish whether the text that
15 I read out, if it appears in a document about McDonald's
16 food whether Mr. Beavers thinks it would be defamatory.
17
18 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, I will not accept that. Mr. Morris is
19 resolutely and deliberately ignoring that recent case from
20 the House of Lords which one might have thought, from his
21 answers, Mr. Beavers had read, rather than Mr. Morris read.
22
23 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It just does not matter, Mr. Morris. I am
24 not making this point in order to stop you making a point
25 which will help you in any way at the end of the day.
26
27 MS. STEEL: If Mr. Rampton wants us to read the ruling from the
28 House of Lords, he had better tell us what it is called.
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I gave you a copy of it the other day. It
31 was the neighbours, was it neighbours or the other one?
32
33 MR. RAMPTON: I cannot remember, my Lord. I will not say what
34 its effect is; that will not be right. Mr. Beavers has
35 already in fact given the House of Lords answers to this
36 question, two or three times.
37
38 MR. MORRIS: Yes, of course, that is in our favour.
39
40 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It does not matter, you see, this is all
41 argument.
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43 MR. MORRIS: I understand that. Mr. Beavers is here to say why
44 they have sued us for circulating this document. I am
45 putting to him a different document, and I am just asking
46 him whether he would consider what it says in that other
47 document defamatory as well.
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not think that helps me towards whatever
50 may be the right conclusion at the end of this case.
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52 MR. MORRIS: The reality is that the document I read out is from
53 McDonald's own document, and we can have comment on that
54 later, no doubt, that we are being sued for something that
55 McDonald's circulated themselves.
56
57 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That could well be the right approach, but
58 I think that is the approach rather than asking Mr. Beavers
59 more questions on that topic we will take our five-minute
60 break and we will go on this afternoon, subject to anyone
