Day 102 - 13 Mar 95 - Page 61
1 Q. Do you feel you have something to hide from people who are
2 committed to the welfare of animals?
3 A. No. I do not believe I have anything to hide at all.
4
5 Q. So why would you not want Mrs. Druce to visit?
6 A. If you are now specifically asking the reason I will
7 tell you.
8
9 Q. Has she got a commitment to the welfare of animals?
10
11 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let him answer the question and then you ask
12 another one if you wish.
13 A. If you want me to specifically answer the reason why
14 I will tell you.
15
16 MR. MORRIS: Yes, go on then.
17 A. It has nothing to do with Farm Animal Welfare Council
18 or positions to that whatsoever. We had a demonstration
19 outside our turkey factory, we have had one a couple of
20 years running, as a result of which there was a lot of
21 activity outside the factory at Christmas time, lorries of
22 turkeys were delayed, videos were taken, a lot of trouble
23 was caused to the police and everybody else with the
24 traffic. It was basically a pretty irresponsible type of
25 activity. An interview was done by Wales television of the
26 person who led that demonstration and I was also asked to
27 go down to the television studio and make comments on
28 behalf of the company. Subsequent to that a few weeks
29 later I had a phone call from Mrs. Druce where it became
30 obvious that she knew the organiser of this demonstration.
31 I tried to explain my point of view and it basically became
32 pretty obvious that she was involved in that
33 demonstration. Quite frankly, I do not wish to have
34 anything to do with that kind of activity. That is why
35 I am saying no.
36
37 Q. Well, if Mrs. Druce says she was not involved with that
38 demonstration, would that be a reason for reconsidering
39 your decision?
40 A. I would not believe that because it was obvious by the
41 tone of her comments that she was involved, if not directly
42 at least in the spirit and the motivation behind that.
43
44 Q. So when you say you are happy to welcome
45 independent -- objective, sorry.
46
47 MR. RAMPTON: It is an important word.
48
49 MR. MORRIS: Mr. Rampton, I am standing up not you. If you say
50 you are happy to welcome objective scrutiny of your
51 operation, does objective extend to people whose concern is
52 for the welfare of animals, that is their primary concern
53 rather than the profits of some company?
54 A. If that is their primary genuine concern is animal
55 welfare, then that is fine, that is not a problem. The
56 problem I have is with people who already have
57 well-publicised views on so-called intensive farming
58 systems, where their views have already been made widely
59 public. I am not just talking about Mrs. Druce; there are
60 quite a number of other organisations who have asked to
