Day 308 - 28 Nov 96 - Page 25


     
     1        record all those leaflets and told the communications
     2        department they must not send out that press release, that
     3        is incorrect?"  Then he says, answer, it is a long
     4        sentence, "Yes, I am concerned by it".  Question, "But you
     5        are not concerned enough to actually do something to stop
     6        the dissemination of false information by McDonald's?"
     7        Answer, "Not at present, no".  Then he says something about
     8        the term lies has been used by myself, he says "yourself",
     9        in reference to McDonald's "on numerous occasions".
    10
    11        Now, the point is I would say we only use the words 'lies'
    12        when we are absolutely clear that McDonald's are saying
    13        something that is wrong and they know that something is
    14        wrong, and that we have evidence to back it up, as we have
    15        done in this case, and that the word 'lies' is not used
    16        once in the London Greenpeace fact sheet.  Therefore, the
    17        use of the word 'lies' by McDonald's is stepping up and is
    18        inappropriate -- well, it is just rubbish, anyway, it is
    19        just irresponsible.  They have failed to corroborate it in
    20        any way, shape or form in any particular instance.
    21
    22        I want to say something else about this.  He says at the
    23        bottom of that, page 17, when being criticised about the
    24        environmental effect of the modern industrial food
    25        production system, "If what McDonald's is doing is wrong,
    26        then the entire rest of the food distribution system in the
    27        world must be wrong, that just cannot be."  I think this is
    28        important, that he just cannot conceive that people can
    29        stand back and criticise a whole way of organising modern
    30        society, or modern industrial society, based upon profit
    31        and industrialisation.
    32
    33        The point is it can be, people can criticise, and they
    34        should have the protection of the law in their right to
    35        criticise, and he cannot conceive that as far as he is
    36        concerned all must be to the best and the best of all
    37        possible worlds, like Candide.
    38
    39   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It is Canlosse (?), in fact.
    40
    41   MR. MORRIS:  Canlosse, like in the book.  I have not read it for
    42        about 20 years.
    43
    44   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I commend it to you.
    45
    46   MR. MORRIS:  Voltaire was a magistrate, I believe.
    47
    48        Day 246, page 29.  He does say on line 51, in conclusion
    49        about the press release, "It does not explain anything at
    50        all about why we are going to court.  It makes some 
    51        statements but it does not say why we are saying any of 
    52        this."  This, to me, is an admission that in fact that, 
    53        although it was dressed up as that, the real purpose of it
    54        was to attack the credibilities of myself and Helen, and
    55        that is an admission that it is not doing what it is
    56        claiming to do.
    57
    58        Then on day 246, page 30, he was under serious pressure
    59        from us in cross-examination about the use of the word
    60        'lies' in that document, and he says that he knew that we

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