Day 177 - 26 Oct 95 - Page 53
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2 MR. RAMPTON: Yes. I would only add this so far as H is
3 concerned, that whatever the true interpretation of that
4 part of the leaflet or, indeed, of the pleaded meaning of
5 H, if we are more or less right about F, more or less --
6 and, as I say, one does not expect to be able to put down
7 something which a jury is going to say, "Yes, that is word
8 perfect -- but if I have got the sting or the thrust of the
9 leaflet right so far as F is concerned, then frankly H
10 really does not matter very much. I am always entitled to
11 use the last part of this column as context for the earlier
12 part anyway.
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14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, I understand that.
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16 MR. RAMPTON: Put it like this -- it is a little bit coarse --
17 but if the food is apt to give people fatal terminal
18 illnesses it may not matter very much if it makes them also
19 constipated from time to time.
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21 Then, my Lord, having looked at that, can I then ask your
22 Lordship to take hold of the leaflet itself. I am not
23 going to repeat, at any length at all, all the submissions
24 I made when we applied for leave to amend because that
25 would be pointless. I just want to say a few words, if
26 I may, about what I conceive to be the character and
27 purpose of this leaflet, not in a subjective sense at all
28 but as it would strike the man in the street when he looks
29 at it.
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31 MR. MORRIS: Is it possible to have our break so we can go over
32 the bits we have missed out?
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34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You can have a break now if you would like
35 one unless Mr. Rampton wants to go on for a specific
36 purpose. In any event, I was going to give a break when
37 Mr. Rampton finishes his submissions. How much longer do
38 you think you will be?
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40 MR. RAMPTON: I think I will be finished by half past three. If
41 we had a break now it might be 25 to four.
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43 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Quite frankly, I think it would be better if
44 Mr. Rampton went on until about half past and then we will
45 talk about what we do next then.
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47 MR. RAMPTON: I hope I will not overrun, sometimes one does. My
48 Lord, as I say, I would invite your Lordship to consider
49 what the nature and purpose of this leaflet is, not from
50 the subjective point of view at all, but how it would have
51 struck the man in the street when he first picked up a copy
52 of it or got it through the post.
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54 The first thing I would say is that it is not a specialist
55 publication. It is not directed at people with particular
56 interest in the environment or nutrition or employment or
57 advertising. It is directed at the world at large.
58 "What's wrong with McDonald's? Everything they don't want
59 you to know. The man behind the mask speaks for itself."
60 What you will find it says, in effect, is within this
