Day 260 - 11 Jun 96 - Page 35


     
     1        like that; they just addressed the group as a whole, and
     2        anybody who was interested would say so, you know, but
     3        other people who were not necessarily interested might keep
     4        their mouths shut or, you know, do nothing?
     5        A.  I would assume so.  This is natural human behaviour,
     6        that if somebody broaches a subject and other people within
     7        the group who they are talking to were not interested, they
     8        would not get much of a response.
     9
    10   Q.   That is generally what happened at the meetings, that
    11        someone would bring up a subject they were interested in
    12        and then, if other people were interested in it, they would
    13        then say, "Oh, yes, I am interested in getting involved
    14        with that as well", and other people would not say
    15        anything, they would just stay out of it?
    16
    17   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Is it that, or is it the situation everyone
    18        has found themselves in, that someone might start talking
    19        to you about politics and it might be quite clear from what
    20        they say that they assume that at the next election you are
    21        going to vote for a certain party?
    22        A.  Yes, that was my impression.
    23
    24   Q.   They may be quite wrong, and if they are quite wrong you
    25        may tell them you are wrong or you may just keep quiet; but
    26        it is quite apparent from the way they are expressing
    27        themselves to you that they made that assumption?
    28        A.  Yes.
    29
    30   Q.   Is it that sort of situation?
    31        A.  That is what I was trying to describe, yes.
    32
    33   MS. STEEL:  If I put to you whether or not this was the basis of
    34        that statement, that, generally speaking, at the meetings,
    35        people would bring up something they were interested in and
    36        other people who were interested also would say so and
    37        might get involved, and other people would just keep quiet
    38        and, you know, stay out of that discussion and maybe join
    39        another one on a different subject that they were
    40        interested in?
    41        A.  This comment that we are discussing was a comment made
    42        on the individuals who formed part of the group.  It was
    43        not specific to the meetings.  I find the meetings, what
    44        happened at the meetings, not covered by the comment that
    45        I made.  This is about the people that were within the
    46        group.
    47
    48   MR. MORRIS:  As I said, that is our misunderstanding, that we
    49        are basically on that comment.  But just forget that for
    50        the moment. 
    51 
    52        This kind of very informal and fragmented interest in 
    53        different things, did that apply to the meetings as well,
    54        where people would suggest things that are coming up and
    55        say, "I think this is great, we should get involved in
    56        this", and there would not be much discussion about it, and
    57        the people that did want to get involved with it got
    58        involved and the rest just did not get involved; is that
    59        kind of informal way that things happened at the meetings?
    60        A.  The meetings were formalised, in that the agenda was

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