Day 036 - 13 Oct 94 - Page 64
1 heard other evidence about that.
2
3 Moreover, you are calling evidence that McDonald's meals
4 play a significant role in making the diets of a
5 significant number of people high-in-fat and saturated fat
6 and that McDonald's promote the greater consumption of
7 such meals. So, it might be thought that you have
8 appreciated that a possible meaning of the leaflet was
9 that "McDonald's sell meals which cause cancer of the
10 breast and bowel and heart disease in their customers",
11 which, you will appreciate, is a quote from the proposed
12 amended Statement of Claim.
13
14 As I said earlier, I think you should give some thought as
15 to what you say "linked with" means in the context of this
16 leaflet if it does not mean "causes". I say that to help
17 you prepare your argument and take advice so that you can
18 think fully about the matter.
19
20 I have this to add. It would help me, I think, and by the
21 way it might help you prepare yourselves, if Mr. Rampton
22 or Mr. Atkinson were prepared to prepare a skeleton
23 argument of what they contend the meanings are concerning
24 nutrition and rearing and slaughter of animals, and why
25 they contend for those meanings, and why they say, if they
26 do say, that they are not changing their ground in seeking
27 leave for the proposed amendments. All I will say, I am
28 not directing it, that would be helpful to me.
29
30 MR. RAMPTON: We will add to that, if we may, an argument why,
31 in our submission -- and it is long after it would
32 normally be expected of a litigant who is legally
33 represented in defamation proceedings -- why we shall
34 invite your Lordship to rule that the Defendants must --
35 not may but must -- state what their case is in relation
36 to this aspect of the plea of justification.
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Include that in the skeleton so that
39 Ms. Steel and Morris can see what your argument is going
40 to be to that effect.
41
42 It would also help me if one can have in advance any
43 references in the transcripts in the past to "causes"
44 rather than "linked with". In fact, I see that looking
45 back at one of my own preliminary rulings I used the word
46 "causes" in trying to summarise the Plaintiffs' case.
47
48 MR. RAMPTON: We were going to look at the witness statements
49 as originally served in July. We were going to look at
50 interlocutory hearings in the autumn of last year. We
51 were going to look at the witness statements which were
52 served in January of this year, at the hearing in the
53 Court of Appeal in February/March of this year and what
54 I said in opening. We will do all of those things and
55 give your Lordship and the Defendants the appropriate
56 references.
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The other matter which would help me (and
59 this is really mostly directed to Mr. Rampton and
60 Atkinson, though I will be pleased to hear anything which
