Day 186 - 10 Nov 95 - Page 49


     
     1        itself and what you will find in this leaflet is everything
     2        they normally try and hide from you and everything they do
     3        not want you to know.  He then said:  so that the
     4        reasonable reader would approach the leaflet with two
     5        expectations, which is what are they going to find out that
     6        the company has been trying to hide.  I just wanted to say
     7        that I thought that what Mr. Rampton said there was
     8        extremely analysed.  It was just that, I think it was the
     9        Skuse case he was talking about, being wary of
    10        over-analytical exercises in deciding the meaning; that no
    11        ordinary reader would sit there thinking all the things
    12        that Mr. Rampton was setting out.   Actually, that is all
    13        I have to say.
    14
    15   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  Thank you.
    16
    17   MR. MORRIS:  Just a couple more bits.  I agree with the point
    18        that, in fact, the purpose of the cartoons and headings is
    19        to invite someone to look at the text closely, which is a
    20        point in our favour.
    21
    22        One final point, on the heading and the animal section: "In
    23        what way is McDonald's responsible for torture and murder?"
    24        Mr. Rampton has said he is not objecting to the words
    25        "torture" and "murder".
    26
    27   MR. RAMPTON:  No, I have not said that.
    28
    29   MR. MORRIS:  Well -----
    30
    31   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No.  In fact, it was "murder" that he said
    32        might be accepted as a comment, albeit very strong, but not
    33        "torture"; he did not put "torture" in that -----
    34
    35   MR. MORRIS:  I will have to check.
    36
    37   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am sure of that because, when thinking
    38        about the meaning of the words in relation to animals, it
    39        seemed to me that that might be a significant distinction.
    40
    41   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  Well, "murder" is pretty strong, but -----
    42
    43   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I think his point was a part of it, that it
    44        is common ground that McDonald's are responsible for the
    45        death of a lot of animals; and Mr. Rampton was saying that
    46        he could see that people who felt strongly about it might
    47        use the word "murder" for that.  But he did not bring
    48        "torture" in; he did not make the same concession with
    49        regard to the word "torture".
    50 
    51   MR. RAMPTON:  Nor, my Lord, did I say that I object to it, 
    52        because it does not mean it is defamatory; what it means is 
    53        that the word "murder" may be objected to and regarded as a
    54        comment.  The question whether in this instance these
    55        Defendants are to be regarded as fair (indecipherable) or,
    56        on the contrary, malicious ones is yet to be determined.
    57
    58   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  We have quite enough to think about on the
    59        nutrition without going on to that.
    60

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