Day 245 - 07 May 96 - Page 34


     
     1        helps cement my decision to go forward and that which we
     2        did commencing the Spring time of 1994 in terms of press
     3        releases, but I myself have seen you handing out leaflets
     4        participating in demonstrations in front of my office in
     5        East Finchley.  I know you are involved in it.  I have seen
     6        it with my own eyes.
     7
     8   Q.   So if crew members hand out leaflets when there is a picket
     9        outside the store, if crew members hand out McDonald's
    10        leaflets about what is going on in court or about nutrition
    11        information, does that make them have a leading role in a
    12        pro-McDonald's campaign or does it just mean that they are
    13        participants?
    14        A.  I am not sure,
    15
    16   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am going to stop you there because it
    17        really is a matter for me to decide in due course.
    18
    19   MS. STEEL:  When you talk in that paragraph about "these 2
    20        individuals have chosen to defend the leaflet", what choice
    21        are you talking about?
    22        A.  I am sorry, you have chosen to defend the leaflet?  We
    23        as a company made a statement which 3 of 5 people accepted
    24        saying we got it wrong, we will not do it again.  You were
    25        2 of the 5 who chose not to take that route and so you are
    26        here.
    27
    28   Q.   So the choice was that we either had to apologise or fight
    29        the case?
    30        A.  It acknowledged that ----
    31
    32   Q.   That is the choice you are talking about?
    33        A.  It acknowledged that in there you got it wrong.
    34
    35   Q.   That is the choice that you are talking about. We either
    36        had to apologise or fight this case?
    37        A.  There were many choices before that.  You could have
    38        stopped circulating the leaflet for one.
    39
    40   Q.   You did not write to us before that, did you?
    41        A.  When the writs were served there was plenty of time to
    42        stop.  But on the first day of this trial you actively said
    43        they were true and you stood by them.  I had no other
    44        choice but to go forward.
    45
    46   Q.   I am talking about the choice that you are talking about
    47        there and that is between apologising or fighting the case?
    48        A.  This is just before the case started, yes.
    49
    50   Q.   Right.  You are aware, are you not, that the 3 people who 
    51        made an apology in court have publicly retracted that, or 
    52        explained why they were forced to make that apology because 
    53        it was such an uphill battle to try and fight the case?
    54        A.  Well, I think the word "forced" is certainly over the
    55        top.  They had a choice to make as to whether they got it
    56        right or wrong.  They saw the light, examined the facts,
    57        and got it wrong.  They said so.  There is nothing wrong
    58        with that.  We all get things wrong occasionally.
    59
    60   Q.   They were bullied and threatened into making an apology?

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