Day 308 - 28 Nov 96 - Page 26


     
     1        knew the leaflet was not true, and then at line 21 he says,
     2        "Why do I say that?  In the face of people like the BBC2,
     3        The Guardian or The Scotsman apologised to us on the
     4        rainforest issue, it is just inconceivable to me...".  You
     5        can read it yourself.  What he is basically saying is that
     6        because the BBC2 or The Guardian have apologised we
     7        obviously must realise that there is something wrong with
     8        what is in the fact sheet.  He says they were presented
     9        with the facts in the matter, but there is no evidence on
    10        that whatsoever.  In fact there is evidence that they were
    11        just presented with bald statements without any factual
    12        basis whatsoever.
    13
    14        As we have heard, they were actually incorrect -- well,
    15        lies were presented to BBC2 and others.
    16
    17        So, in this and the following pages the strategy becomes
    18        clear that McDonald's gain apologies from organisations and
    19        use those apologies to convince other people, or persuade
    20        other people, that therefore what they are saying must not,
    21        cannot, be true, or that they should not say what other
    22        people apologise for, and they are using this as a strategy
    23        and he is relying on this as what he says is his belief
    24        that we are telling lies.
    25
    26        Right.  This is quite incredible, but he is actually
    27        relying on it between pages 30 and 33 on day 246, which
    28        I urge you to have a look over again.
    29
    30        I will come back to that.  On page 31, first of all, we
    31        said, "But you know that we had 70 witnesses lined up to
    32        appear in court to defend this issue".  That is line 14.
    33        Answer, "I was aware of that".  So he cannot say he does
    34        not know we were actually, you know, prepared to
    35        substantially defend all the issues in the case.  Then he
    36        says, page 31, lines 32 to 40, "I think if I wrote the
    37        leaflet, or if I wrote these words, different words than
    38        'lies', I think I could have made my point otherwise".
    39
    40   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes, I remember that.
    41
    42   MR. MORRIS:  Therefore, we would say that is a basic concession
    43        that he is recognising the words 'lies' should not have
    44        been used.  It is gratuitous and unsubstantiated wording.
    45
    46        Then, just to continue at page 32, Ms. Steel asked him,
    47        "You have also used the apology over Channel 4 over Jungle
    48        Burger film as part of your strategy to persuade other
    49        people they have got it wrong and they ought to apologise
    50        as well, have you not?"  Answer, "I believe we have used 
    51        Jungle Burger and that issue on several occasions, yes". 
    52        So it is an admission of this kind of strategy they have 
    53        got, which is relevant to this counterclaim because it is
    54        all part of the strategy of suppressing critics and
    55        undermining their credibility.
    56
    57        Then line 29.  "You have also used the letter from Prince
    58        Philip", regarding rainforests, et cetera.  Answer, "We may
    59        very well have, I think so, but I cannot recall here and
    60        now".

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