Day 081 - 31 Jan 95 - Page 63
1 answer be?
2
3 MR. CLARK: Can I sleep on it my Lord?
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You can sleep on it and come back in the
6 morning you. Would then be committed to being in London
7 anyway.
8
9 MR. CLARK: I could get the next shuttle home.
10
11 MR. JUSTICE BELL: An extremely conscientious man if you then
12 went to your department but that is another matter!
13
14 MR. CLARK: Is that reasonable, my Lord, I will give you an
15 answer tomorrow?
16
17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think it is. We can all come back in the
18 morning and decide about it, but I think I have to ask you
19 what you actually want to do. If I have not given you a
20 warning of some other possible disadvantage in calling
21 Mr. Clark it is only because I have not thought of it, but
22 the factors I did think were merely matters I thought
23 I ought to say to you; not to point you in one direction or
24 another, but merely because if you were experienced counsel
25 or a solicitor you would be aware of that possible thin
26 ice.
27
28 MS. STEEL: I think probably if we got legal advice tonight that
29 might be a good idea, if we are going to come back tomorrow
30 morning.
31
32 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think it is best we do come back tomorrow
33 morning. If we came back to tomorrow morning and one way
34 or another we had time during the day, would you be ready
35 to deal with the BSE issue or do you still want time for
36 that?
37
38 MS. STEEL: We were supposed to be seeing someone on Thursday
39 night about that, well, provisionally.
40
41 MR. MORRIS: There are other legal matters which could be dealt
42 with tomorrow.
43
44 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If you did call Mr. Clark do you have any
45 idea of how long you would be asking him questions in-chief
46 if he did go into the witness box?
47
48 MS. STEEL: I think it is extremely unlikely to be more than an
49 hour; probably more likely half an hour or something like
50 that.
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: So there is no way we could extend, if that
53 was so, beyond about 12 noon or the mid-day adjournment?
54
55 MR. RAMPTON: No, because I have only two questions in
56 cross-examination.
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. Mr. Clark, all I will say is, I am not
59 brushing aside the practical reasons and other reasons
60 which you have raised, if you come back in the morning and
